We first became aware of the tree health pilot (THP) scheme in 2021 when we received a Statutory Plant Health Notice (SPHN) for trees infected by one of the specified pests. The THP scheme has been designed to help slow the spread of pests and diseases affecting trees in England. There are grants available for larch trees with Phytophthora ramorum, spruce trees affected by Ips typographus, sweet chestnut trees with Phytophthora ramorum or sweet chestnut blight, oak trees with oak processionary moth (OPM) and ash trees with ash dieback. In our case, the Larger Eight-toothed Spruce Bark Beetle [Ips typographus] had been found in the Norway spruce and we were instructed to fell, move, process and destroy all spruce trees in the defined area of the wood. Strict but clear directions were given regarding the ‘how, when and where’ for the felling and processing. An initial site visit and ongoing support from the Forestry Commission and their Plant Health Forestry Team allowed us to follow the process of applying for a THP grant with ease. We submitted the application and received confirmation that the grant application was successful, at which point it was over to the team undertaking the felling. Once complete a final inspection from the Forestry Commission took place to ensure we adhered to the agreed method statement (as specified in the SPHN) and then we were able to submit the claim. This claim was processed and received – all within approx. 3 weeks. Fast forward to 2023. One of the woods we are managing in the southeast (which lies within the Ips typographus demarcated area) has a small stand of Norway spruce (approx. 0.5 hectare). Some of the trees are damaged, stressed or dead, and at risk of providing the right conditions for the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle. Advice from the Forestry Commission is: How does felling healthy spruce help the situation? This reduces the opportunity for colonisation [of the beetle] and may sometimes be required as a precaution to ensure that trees that could be potentially infested are removed. Removing spruce as a host from the demarcated area entirely will limit the possibility of populations of Ips typographus establishing and prevent spread to other areas. Predicted climate change means that what is currently healthy spruce may not remain so over future years, hence early felling could reduce the risk of these areas becoming future outbreak sites. We decided to investigate whether the THP scheme could support the proactive felling and extraction of the Norway spruce. We submitted an Expression of Interest for the THP scheme, the Forestry Commission undertook a site visit and were able to confirm there was no Ips found in the wood, and we were eligible to apply for the grant. We concurrently applied for a felling licence to clear fell the compartment of Norway spruce. It is worth noting, if an SPHN is served then normally there are no restocking conditions applied however restocking and maintenance grants are available to support restoring woodland In this case there are restocking conditions in line with the felling licence – an opportunity to plant and enable native broadleaves to thrive – that can also be grant-aided. An application for the THP scheme was submitted and we subsequently received a grant offer which was accepted. What next? A pre-felling survey was required in order to determine pest freedom for Ips typographus, and the authorisation for harvesting operations remains valid for 3 months. [caption id="attachment_40238" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Galleries formed by the beetles[/caption] An inspection for Ips typographus will need to take place before any felled timber can be taken off site – the advice is to fell and move the timber quickly rather than leaving stacks in the wood. The felling commences this week and should only take 5 days, and we plan to restock with native broadleaves over the winter. The Forestry Commission has produced a very useful guide Ips typographus: Guidance on the movement restrictions of spruce trees - Forestry Commission (blog.gov.uk) but throughout the whole process the Forestry Commission and Plant Health team have been really supportive and quick to answer queries about Ips, the THP grant scheme and the forestry operations. My advice if you have a stand of Spruce – is to speak to your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer about getting involved with the Tree Health Pilot scheme or visit their website to find out more: Tree health pilot scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Last week we hosted a number of people from the Forestry Commission, the Plant Health Forestry team, Forest Research, and DEFRA. They are continually evolving the scheme to understand how best to provide this vital funding to woodland owners to enable and encourage management of spruce and Ips. We were pleased to say they have, however,  not found it in the wood!

Compared to some of our European neighbours, it seems that our percentage woodland and forest cover is quite low at 13%; as was recently discussed on the BBC "More or less" programme.  Only Denmark and the Netherlands have similar low levels of cover.  Finland, on the other hand, has almost three quarters of its surface area covered with trees. After the end of the last ice age, trees gradually recolonised the exposed landscape so that vast swathes of the U.K. were covered with woodland/forest - the wildwood. It might be thought that our current low figure is due to increased urbanisation, road/motorway construction etc. In fact, the tree cover is remarkably similar to that at the end of the first millennium CE. More trees were ‘lost’ in succeeding centuries with the expansion of farming, and trees were harvested for boat building and house construction.   The Mary Rose was built using oak and elm. It was the first big ship of the Tudor naval fleet.  It has been estimated that over 600 trees were needed for its construction; that is equivalent to about 16 hectares of forest/woodland. Wood was also used to produce charcoal, which was used to smelt metals, particularly iron.  The history of charcoal burners in the New Forest is well documented. Many woodlands / forests were the preserve of the landed gentry and the aristocracy and reserved for deer hunting.  Anyone caught killing deer or boar from such woodlands could suffer terrible punishments but would more likely be fined.. Woodland and forest continued to be depleted so that by the end of the seventeenth century, the percentage cover had fallen to 8%. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the figure stood at a pitiful 5.2%.  The Asquith administration in 1916 established a committee to report on the country’s woodlands and timber supplies.  This lead to the setting up of the Forestry Commission which was not just concerned with established ‘strategic reserves of timber’ but also trying to create viable communities in marginal areas. Through its efforts over the succeeding decades, the U.K’s area of woodland and forest has increased significantly - though the Forestry Commission’s heavy use of coniferous species (particularly in the 60’s and 70’s) has been criticised.  Coniferous woodland / plantations do not support such a wide range of plant and animal life as deciduous woodland.  However, their current emphasis on diversity (and recreational use) favours a much wider range of species, including broadleaved/deciduous trees and the development of a richer ground flora.

The Flow Country is a large area of peatland and wetland in the north of Scotland (Caithness and Sutherland). It is one of the largest expanses of blanket bog in Europe. It is characterised by deep layers of peat and bog pools.   Wetlands, like this,  are important  as They offer a significant wildlife habitat and They act as mitigating agents in terms of climate change (locking up large amounts of carbon). However, some four decades ago, parts of the Flow Country were planted with conifers,  there were financial incentives to  this planting; namely : grants were available towards the costs of planting other costs were tax deductible so investors spent only 20p for every £1 of capital invested prospectively, income from timber was to be virtually untaxed. This ‘forestation’ of wetlands is now generally regarded as a mistake, not only damaging a unique environment but leading to increased carbon emissions.  Now it seems possible that similar mistakes may be made again.    Read more...

Checking through my emails, I came across a link sent by a friend to one of the winter talks in the program offered by the Botanical Society of Scotland - specifically “The Scottish Uplands: how to revive a degraded landscape” by Dr Helen Armstrong.  The talk was live-streamed but was also recorded and is available here.   Dr Armstrong spent 24 years at the Nature Conservancy Council, the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Scottish Natural Heritage and Forest Research carrying out research and advisory work. The following is an attempt to summarise some of the key features of her informative and enlightening talk. Read more...

Campaigners say that we need to increase tree cover to 50% and claim it will help deal with climate change. Tree planting became a big issue in the recent general election but it's much harder than people think and probably less effective at combatting climate change than other simpler measures.   For a start it's a slow business - even in the 1960s tree-planting splurge it took a decade of feverish activity to increase tree cover by just a few percentage points.  Also you need to think carefully about where you plant and what trees you plant - the 1960's planting was mostly on uplands and with mono-cultures that were bad for biodiversity (mainly spruce and pine).  More fundamentally we need to ask what this tree-planting is trying to achieve: can the carbon fixed through one crop of trees realistically counter the burning of carbon from millions of generations of trees represented by burning coal and oil? Read more...

Members of the kingdom of the fungi can essentially be divided into the two basic categories of basidiomycetes and ascomycetes. The basidiomycetes form and release their spores on specialised cells called basidia, which can be found on the underside gills of our more familiar mushroom and toadstool-shaped types, or within the pores of boletes and brackets and suchlike.  Ascomycetes, however, produce their spores in the elongated cells known as asci that cover their spore releasing surface. Each individual ascus can contain usually around 8 spores, like snooker balls in a sock, which then get released out of the end when ready: the word is derived from the Greek for wineskin or sac. Typically we might think of cup fungi, such as the various members of the Peziza genus, like the Blistered Cup (Peziza vesiculosa) depicted here, whose favoured substrates of well-rotted manure or compost heaps lends has led to its alternate common name of the Common Dung Cup.  Read more...

Woodlands and forests can help to slow global warming and associated climate change (which results in extreme heat, drought, floods and famine /poverty).  Trees release water through transpiration into the atmosphere and ‘encourage’ rainfall.  Trees also help to reduce air pollution, they provide habitats for wildlife and economic benefits in terms of employment for local people.  Governments across the globe are finally realising the potential of “natural solutions” to climate change, namely reforestation and ecological restoration of habitats – both  of which allow for carbon sequestration - ‘locking up carbon into organic form’. It has been estimated that such natural solutions could go a long way towards stabilising global heating below the critical 2oC threshold Read more...

Following the First World War, the UK’s woodland coverage was at an all time low – just 5 per cent of total land area. The Acland Committee reported to then Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, that state organisation would be the most effective way to bring about re-afforestation of the UK and plan for the future of British woodland.   As a result, the Forestry Commission was set up and, throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, it voraciously bought up land.  The aim of the Forestry Commission was to ensure that there would be a strategic reserve of timber, so, as it acquired land, it began to plant - mainly with conifers . ‘Low grade’ lands (those that were less in demand for agriculture) were pressed into service such as areas around Thetford Chase and Kielder, as were some sandy coastal sites (e.g. Holkham in Norfolk Read more...