News,

Victoria's termite treat

Subterranean termite post a major threat to buildings throughout Victoria, according to a report released in January by CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products (CFFP) scientist Jim Creffield.

Jim says in order to effectively manage termites, all municipalities State-wide must immediately be 'termite declared'. Of Victoria's 78 municipalities, 30 are not currently listed as being at risk of termite infestation. In undeclared areas builders are not required to install termite management systems (TMS) during construction.

" It is far more economical to have a TMS or barrier installed than to incur the damage and consequent restoration costs". Jim warns

Source: Building Connection march 2005

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Termite tidbits

• termites are major pests in Africa, Asia and the Americas as well as Australia.
• there are about 12 000 trillion termites on Earth.
• the mass of termites is about 10 times greater than that of all the people in the world.
• termites are thought to be responsible for about 40 per cent of the global release of methane, a greenhouse gas.
• termites chomp their way through about 7 billion tonnes of plant material each year.

(Statistics from RMIT Openline.)