The Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islandsthrough the Biodiversity Service, has launched a pilot project that will serve to determine the effectiveness of trained dogs for detecting the invasive subterranean termite, a species discovered for the first time in 2010 in Tenerife and whose eradication has been worked on since 2019.
eradication of the termite plague in the Canary Islands
The head of the Autonomous Department, José Antonio Valbuena, pointed out that “if the suitability of this project is confirmed, the use of dogs will serve to provide information that will improve the effectiveness of the eradication of the termite plague in the Canary Islands, considerably reduce the times used in the detection, minimize spending and save resources, in addition to collecting data on the location and hot spots of this invasive species”.
Valbuena indicated that since 2019 an action plan has been launched in collaboration with the Cabildo de Tenerife and, since then, actions have begun to be carried out, both administrative and on the ground. The initiative has a budget of 14,915 euros for an action that will take place over 12 months, divided into three phases.
The first phase lasts from 45 to 60 days and in it the dogs are prepared to carry out a passive marking on the odor focus, discriminating any other external stimulus and working to achieve a high level of precision in the differentiation of termites. from other pests and environmental factors that are commonly found in the area such as ants, cockroaches, worms or mold.
The second phase involves the start of field work, with searches in areas where the existence of termites is already known to reinforce positive markings to move on, in the third phase, to field work in non-localized areas.
