❙ nature watch ❙ A diseased ash tree – could the species disappear within a decade?
WIN A TREE DEDICATION The Woodland Trust charity is offering ten tree dedications to ten lucky Yours readers in a choice of 50 specially selected woods across the UK. The prize includes a personalised certificate, information about the wood, and a map showing the dedicated area. You can also visit the tree free at any time. If you’d like a chance to win, send a postcard marked Native Trees Competition, with your name and address, to PO Box 57, Coates, Peterborough PE7 2FF to arrive by the closing date of September 6. The first ten entries drawn at random will win a tree dedication.
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A further concern for our woodlands is our increasingly unpredictable weather. Austin explains: “Climate change is perhaps the biggest uncertainty – it may alter the natural ranges of our trees, and put them out of step with other species that depend on them. More extreme weather like flooding and drought will also affect vulnerable species. To make things worse, climate change may create more favourable conditions for some pests and diseases.” So what can we do to help? Austin says: “Always act in accordance with any advisory site signage in woodlands and keep to woodland paths and rides. Where possible, clean your boots/bikes of mud and leaf material between
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visits to woods and don’t remove wood, twigs or leaves from sites.” It’s also important to be able to recognise tree species. A recent survey by the trust revealed that only 57 per cent of adults in Great Britain can identify an oak leaf, while 83 per cent of them are unable to recognise those from an ash. Austin says: “We are relying on people to report the signs of disease and pests in their local woods, so if more people were able to identify common trees like ash and oak it would make tracking the spread easier. We are calling for increased education on native trees and disease identification before it’s too late. We need to learn
✢ Donations for tree dedications start from £15. The money is used to help preserve and restore the UK’s woodland heritage, and plant new woods for everyone to enjoy. For more details call 0800 0 269650.
about and develop a love for our trees and woodlands, or we risk losing them. We need the public’s support to be able to spot cases of disease quickly.” The Woodland Trust is also working on projects, including restoring degraded habitats and creating diverse, resilient landscapes that will continue to provide for people and wildlife. Austin says: “We need to ensure our trees and woods, and wildlife, are resilient enough to cope with the challenges they face in the 21st Century.” ✢ For more information on tree species and diseases which threaten them, call the Woodland Trust on 01476 581135 (www. woodlandtrust.org.uk) or call the Forestry Commission on 0117 906 6000 (www.forestry.gov.uk)
DID YOU KNOW? Following near extinction, elm trees are fighting back in Britain. While few mature trees remain, a single dead tree is often replaced by a thicket of vigorous young elms as the roots stay alive and reshoot. There are now many millions of young elms growing around the countryside – but, unfortunately, they still would not YOURSto Dutch EVERYelm FORTNIGHT have resistance disease.
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Can you identify these six leaves? (answers below)
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Answers: 1 Ash; 2 English oak; 3 Beech; 4 Horse chestnut; 5 Plane; 6 Lime