The most important aspect of protecting ancient trees for the future, is first knowing where they occur. By recording our ancient trees, this allows us to track them over time and we can ensure they are recognised more widely. The Woodland Trust, alongside the Ancient Tree Forum and The Tree Register, work to record ancient trees on a central hub known as the Ancient Tree Inventory. Currently, there are already 190,000 old trees which have been added to the database and this forms an invaluable record. Natural England and Forestry Commission advise others to use this database when looking at the impacts that their future development plans could have.
Add a tree to the Ancient Tree Inventory – Woodland Trust, using the Digital ATI Recording Guide.
How can you, as a member of the public, protect ancient trees?
As you will have read in my other blog posts, some of the main threats to ancient trees are soil compaction, pests & diseases, climate change and recreational activities, which cause disturbance. Therefore, listed below are some ways which you can actively help to protect ancient trees when outdoors.
– It is important to follow signage when outdoors. Make sure to park your vehicle in the designated parking spaces, which are often away from ancient trees and specifically allocated to ensure you do not need to park on verges. If possible, try not to park underneath trees, as you will be compacting their roots making it difficult for the trees to acquire the nutrients they require.
– Similarly, make sure you walk on the designated footpaths, as these have been made for a reason and to make your visit more accessible. Overtime, footpaths often change in line with the site management plan, to ensure that soil compaction is kept to a minimum in certain areas.
– Make sure that you respect ancient trees and refrain from causing damage to them and climbing on them. Importantly, if possible, please try not to get too close to ancient trees and if there is a barrier in place, make sure you do not venture further towards the tree. Soil compaction is a real threat to ancient trees and overtime can eventually cause their health to decline.
– Between visiting different sites, make sure to clean your footwear to ensure that you are not transferring pests and diseases between the sites. This is also important to do for your dog’s feet too. Some sites now have biosecurity methods in place, and you are encouraged to walk through the foot cleaning station before embarking further.
– Keep your dogs under close control, and if necessary or required by the site, keep them on leads to ensure disturbance to the surrounding habitat is kept to a minimum.
How can you, as a guardian of land, protect ancient trees?
- If you are lucky enough to have an ancient tree on your land and it is accessible for visitors or cattle, consider installing a low shin-high fence around the root protection area. The RPA measurement is either 5 metres beyond the crown or an area with a radius 15x greater than the diameter of the tree. Whichever is larger! This will prevent soil compaction due to shading cattle or the footfall of visitors. Similarly, make sure to not put a bench beneath an ancient tree, as this will encourage similar compaction behaviour.
- Another important aspect of protecting ancient trees on your land is signposting. How will people understand the importance of protecting ancient trees, if they don’t realise it is one? A great idea would be to install signage explaining the importance of ancient trees. And if you don’t have time to design one, download one of the posters from my website and cover your site in them!
- Further guidance on managing ancient trees can be found here: Care and management | Ancient Tree Forum
Legal Protection
There are many different laws relating to trees, and these are often dependent on specific situations, and exceptions can be made in some cases. There are Tree Preservation Orders which are made by the local planning authority and can protect an individual tree or a group of, leading to an unlimited fine if a tree is felled. In terms of health and safety, the owner of the land must reduce risks to themselves and others, to make sure no injuries occur due to the tree. Similarly, employers with land and ancient trees, must also make sure that they meet health and safety standards, to make sure they keep their employees and visitors safe.
Throughout the United Kingdom, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have differences in their laws protecting trees. The Ancient Tree Forum and VETCERT has more information on the laws, although before any action is taken, legal professionals need to be consulted.
Unfortunately, there is not currently a specific law which exclusively protects ancient trees. This obviously needs to change and is a major point the government needs to add to their policy. Make sure to sign the Living Legends campaign, which is advocating for governments to make greater legislation to protect ancient trees. Sign here: Protect our Living Legends: Sign our Petition – Woodland Trust
If you believe that there is a possible threat to an ancient tree or ancient woodland near you, then the Woodland Trust is interested to hear from you. Follow the link below:
The Future for Ancient Trees
As mentioned above, the future is looking tricky, yet promising for ancient trees. With campaigns such as these, we are raising the awareness of the importance of ancient trees and how we can protect them. We are educating the general public about how they can actively help to reduce the threats to ancient trees and play their part in ensuring these trees are around for future generations. There is a greater motivation and understanding of the importance of planting new trees and conserving younger trees, including veteran trees, to become the ancient ones of the future.
We are calling on the government to introduce new legislation to protect these important habitats. The Woodland Trust and Ancient Tree Forum are actively creating new documents and policies on recognising, recording and management of ancient trees. Excitingly, the Ancient Tree Forum and the Woodland Trust are in the final stages on finalising Ancient and Other Veteran Tree Recognising Guidance. This is to update the current Ancient Tree Guide No 4. This is due to be published early in the new year and will provide a key resource for both volunteers and practitioners. This will hopefully aid our recording effort of ancient trees.