Devon Wildlife Trust calls for token effort to combat dying trees

Leading local conservation charity Devon Wildlife Trust is asking the public to help it address one of the biggest challenges facing the county’s countryside and its wildlife.
 

It wants shoppers at Tesco stores across Devon to help it gain a major monetary boost from the supermarket giant. It’s asking people to drop the little blue tokens they receive at the check-out into the nearby collection boxes which read ‘Devon Wildlife Trust – Saving Devon’s Treescapes’.
 

The initiative is the latest effort from the charity in its attempt to address the widespread and disastrous effects of ash dieback disease. Devon Wildlife Trust’s message is very much that ‘every little helps’ in the battle to fill the hole which will be left by the widespread loss of ash trees, one of the most common and best-loved of all our trees.
 

It is estimated that ash dieback will kill at least 90% of Devon’s ash trees in the coming years. The fungal disease is now established and widespread, having arrived in the UK in 2012. Dead and sickly ash trees are a common sight in the South West. The disease and its impact on landscapes is being compared to that of Dutch Elm Disease which ravaged elm trees in the 1960s and 70s.
 

In response Devon Wildlife Trust is leading the fightback, with the Devon Ash Dieback Resilience Forum, in its Saving Devon’s Treescapes project. It wants to work with local communities across the county to plant and then look after thousands of replacement trees. These won’t be ash trees, but they will be of other native Devon species including oak, field maple, aspen , lime, beech, birch and hazel.
 

Saving Devon’s Treescapes is one of three local causes shortlisted for a Tesco Bags of Help Centenary Grant, which could be worth up to £25,000 to help it in its fight to restore Devon’s rural and urban landscapes. The charity is hoping that the public will get behind it and show their support.
 

Peter Burgess is Devon Wildlife Trust’s Director of Conservation and Development. He said: 

“The facts are stark. We anticipate losing most of the two million ash trees in Devon. That’s a lot of holes in our hedges, in our parks, gardens, roadsides and riverbanks. Their loss is also a huge blow for our already struggling wildlife. Ash trees provide food, a place to live for a wide range of other plants, animals and fungi, and crucially corridors which connect the web of life in the county.
 

We know that planting replacement, disease-resistant, native species trees is the most effective response we can make. But to do this we need the public’s help. So, I would ask, please can all Tesco shoppers add their little blue tokens to save Devon’s Treescapes ? By doing so they will be making a world of difference to the local wildlife and landscapes that we all love.”
 

The chance to help the Saving Devon’s Treescapes project runs in Tesco stores until 31 December 2019.
 

Devon Wildlife Trust is leading the Saving Devon's Treescapes project on behalf of the Devon Ash Dieback Resilience Forum, a cross-sector partnership of more than 30 organisations established in 2016.

Sick and dying ash trees. Photo copyright Devon Wildlife Trust (All rights reserved)
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More on Devon Ash Dieback Resilience Forum at www.devonashdieback.org.uk
Devon Wildlife Trust is the county’s leading environmental charity, with 35,000 members. The charity manages 51 nature reserves and six Valley Parks across Devon, including a range of beautiful landscapes such as woodlands, meadows, wetlands and heaths. Devon Wildlife Trust relies on charitable donations, grants and the generous support of its members and the general public to raise more than £4million every year. Money raised is spent maintaining our work for wildlife conservation and education in Devon, for present and future generations. More at www.devonwildlifetrust.org

Nature reserves are latest campaign focus for Devon Wildlife Trust, as ash dieback confirmed on first DWT site

Devon Wildlife Trust has launched a campaign to secure more support for looking after 50 Devon nature reserves: http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves-fund
 

The charity spends around £2000 per day on management of 50 nature reserves across Devon, totalling 1943 hectares (4801 acres.) Funds are spent on ensuring varied habitats support the widest possible range of wildlife and on maintaining accessible places for visitors to enjoy exploring.

But this year, staff and volunteers will have to deal with an additional problem. Ash dieback is the latest threat to manifest on DWT nature reserves, with evidence of the disease now present on at least five DWT sites.

With the charity finding it increasingly difficult to secure funding for the ongoing management of nature reserves, DWT has launched a new campaign. The Devon Nature Reserves Fund makes it easier for more visitors to the Trust’s 50 Devon wildlife sites to support the work required to ensure thriving wildlife and satisfied visitors at all the reserves.

Many of the most wildlife-rich sites in Devon are semi-natural habitats such as heathland, coppiced woodland and wet grassland. Once traditional ways of managing the land were discontinued during the later decades of the 20th century, this had a detrimental impact on the wildlife that had evolved to thrive alongside human use of the landscape in these semi-natural habitats. Managing the varied habitats on nature reserves revives this traditional land use, but now exclusively for the benefit of wild plants and animals – and the people who enjoy seeing them.

Nature reserves without management would feature less varied habitats and less diverse wildlife.

Now, in addition to clearing gorse and scrub, managing grazing animals, maintaining ponds and keeping paths and boardwalks in good condition, reacting to ash dieback is the latest challenge facing Land Manager Matt Boydell and his team of staff and volunteers. The Forestry Commission has confirmed the presence of the Chalara fraxinea fungus that causes ash dieback, at DWT’s Dunsdon National Nature Reserve, near Holsworthy. Ash trees with symptoms of the disease have also been recorded at DWT nature reserves Halsdon (on the River Torridge), Meeth Quarry (near Hatherleigh), Dunsford (in the Teign valley) and The Rough (near Honiton.)

After an inspection of the Trust’s Dunsford reserve on Dartmoor, Matt Boydell said: “So far we’re seeing young trees, around 10 feet tall, that have been affected, with discolouration of branches from the tip down. It hasn’t yet affected the 60-70 mature ash trees on the reserve. But given the geographical spread of reserves affected already, it is likely that we will see symptoms of ash dieback on all young growth on most reserves from next spring.”

Matt outlined DWT’s next steps for dealing with ash dieback on nature reserves: “We need to map where the biggest and most high-risk ash trees are, those close to roads and public footpaths, as any large diseased trees posing a risk to the public will have to be felled. Mapping how quickly the disease is spreading and the age of infected trees is likely to be our focus over the next few years. Then we can plan what level of re-populating of native tree species is suitable for each reserve, in harmony with natural regeneration of the woodland, particularly where hedgerow ashes have died.”

DWT’s wildlife sites cover 1943 hectares (4801 acres) of Devon, with reserves spread around the compass. The intrepid nature-lover would need to travel 83 miles from the Trust’s most southerly nature reserve, South Efford Marsh, home to curlews and otters on a tidal stretch of the River Avon, to reach the northernmost site, Swanpool Marsh, near Braunton. Journeying from east to west, a 67-mile journey would be required from Hawkswood, near Honiton, to Warleigh Point, a riverside oak woodland where the Tavy and Tamar rivers meet.

At 326 hectares, Dart Valley is the largest DWT nature reserve, with 6.5 kilometres of the River Dart at its wildest rushing through the woodland between Dartmeet and New Bridge. The very first DWT reserve was important dormouse haven Lady’s Wood, a bluebell and hazel woodland near South Brent which was gifted to the charity by eminent Devon naturalist HG Hurrell in 1961.

The 50 reserves include:

• Devon’s largest goosander roost at Meeth Quarry
• the largest colony of pearl bordered fritillary butterflies in the South West at Marsland (on the Atlantic coast near Hartland)
• the only remaining site in England for narrow headed ants at Chudleigh Knighton Heath
• the biggest colony in the country of the rare heath lobelia flower at Andrew’s Wood (near Loddiswell)
• the Devon site with the highest recorded number of marsh fritillary butterflies, Volehouse Moor (near Bradworthy.)
• the site of the first UK field study of dormice, at Lady’s Wood, where the rodents’ distinctive way of eating hazelnuts was first discovered

DWT nature reserves include some of the best places in the county to see cuckoos (at Emsworthy Mire, near Hay Tor), otters (at Halsdon) and glow worms (at Bystock Pools, near Exmouth.)

DWT’s Dan Smith said, “Regular contributions from our members help cover the everyday costs of looking after some of Devon’s best wildlife sites. But thousands of other people enjoy visiting these wonderful places and now they can easily support work on our 50 reserves with a gift to the Devon Nature Reserves Fund.”

Donations can made online at www.devonwildlifetrust.org/make-a-donation or by calling the Trust on 01392 279244.

 Ash Tree. Photo copyright Peter Wakely (All Rights Reserved)

 Ash Tree Flower - Photo copyright Michael Symes (All Rights Reserved)

Dunsdon Path. Photo copyright Dave Chamberlain (All Rights Reserved)

Donations can made online at www.devonwildlifetrust.org/make-a-donation or by calling the Trust on 01392 279244.  

About Devon Wildlife Trust 

Devon Wildlife Trustis the county’s leading environmental charity, with 32,000 members. The charity manages 50 nature reserves across Devon, including a range of beautiful landscapes such as woodlands, meadows, wetlands and heaths. Devon Wildlife Trust relies on charitable donations, grants and the generous support of its members and the general public to raise more than £3.5million every year. Money raised is spent maintaining our work for wildlife conservation and education in Devon, for present and future generations.

Devon Wildlife Trust: Action for Ash

A leading wildlife charity is urging the Government to take action as soon as possible to prevent the spread of a disease which could be devastating to Britain's iconic ash trees. 'Ash dieback' (Chalara fraxinea) is a fungal disease, which has already devastated ash woodlands in other parts of northern Europe, and has now been found in trees in Suffolk, Norfolk and Buckinghamshire. It is estimated that ash trees make up around 30% of England's woodland cover and the thousands of miles of hedgerows which knit our landscapes together. Devon Wildlife Trust's Chief Executive, Harry Barton said: "This could be the biggest threat to our woodlands in modern times. It is essential that we learn lessons from the tragedy of Dutch elm disease and act now to coordinate effort to contain this threat and to protect our woodlands" Last week Defra Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, announced measures to control the spread of the disease. The Wildlife Trusts have urged him to enforce the ban on ash imports and to bring together appropriate scientists, commercial interests, conservation organisations and representatives of landowning bodies to plan an urgent strategy to prevent 'ash dieback' from causing long term damage to the countryside. Harry Barton said: "In the Netherlands we've seen 80% of ash trees affected. We must not let this happen here. If Government and their agencies act decisively now we may be able to check the spread of the disease." The symptoms of ash die back disease are leaf loss and dieback of the tree's crown. Devon Wildlife Trust is currently planning how it will manage this threat within its own reserves, but is urging members of the public to be vigilant and, if anyone suspects that they have seen cases of ash die back, to contact the Forestry Commission Plant Health service on 0131 314 6414. More details about Ash dieback disease can be found at Devon Wildlife Trust's website www.devonwildlifetrust.org