All rights reserved. An essential part of the city's soul, the gnarled live oaks and other trees that form the cool green backdrop of New Orleans are threatened by Formosans, one of the few termite species that attack living trees. Imagine New Orleans without its trees. Imagine St. Charles Avenue as an unshaded concrete boulevard.
Formosan termites are devastating the area's living trees.
And each scream of the chain saw takes away more than just a little shade. When Hurricane Andrew sideswiped the New Orleans area in 1992, thousands of trees across the region toppled or took heavy damage. City officials concluded that the termites were partly to blame for the storm damage. They had weakened the trees and made them vulnerable to Andrew's high winds. From the ancient live oaks that define the character and ambience of St. Charles Avenue to the water oaks, cypress, palms and pines that shade back yards and neutral grounds, virtually no tree species appears to be safe from the Formosan termites - one of the few termite species that attacks live trees.