The Woodland Trust is urging the government to continue support
for UK tree nurseries to counter the threat posed by spiralling tree imports.
New statistics out today show that 128 million trees and shrubs were
imported into the UK last year, up from 125 million the previous year – valued
at £280 million.
These imports increase the risk of introducing new pests
and pathogens that threaten our existing woods and trees and the many
thousands of species that live on them. Oak trees, for example, can provide a
home for 2,300 different species, and ash can host 955 species.
Image: Larch trees felled due to disease at
Smithills Estate - Andy Bond / WTML
Currently, the government – through DEFRA – provides funding for tree
nurseries to help them grow more trees but this support is due to end in early
2025. The Woodland Trust says growing the trees we need right here in the UK is
one of the best ways to ensure we do not introduce any new tree diseases into
our landscape.
Rebecca Gosling, a tree health expert from the Woodland Trust, is urging the
new government to recommit to boost our domestic production of trees.
She said: "Tree disease has devastating effects on not only our trees
but also on our economy too. A recent study revealed that six introduced tree
pests and pathogens alone cost the UK economy £920 million annually.*
"Ash dieback was a disease brought into the country which has had a
huge impact on ash woodlands in the UK, with mortality reaching 85%** of ash
trees in some woodlands.
"And the latest forestry
statistics show that since 2014, 21,000 hectares of larch trees have been
felled due to Phytophthora ramorum. The Woodland Trust itself has
spent hundreds of thousands of pounds removing larch."
Rebecca added: "We have some fantastic tree nurseries across the UK
which grow the trees that the Woodland Trust and many others need. While the
Trust runs the UK
and Ireland Sourced and Grown scheme, there are still far too many trees
being imported from elsewhere, bringing huge risk to tree health.
"It’s great that the government has supported domestic tree nurseries
through significant funding over the past three years, but this comes to an end
early next year and it’s crucial for the government to continue this
support."
Pests and diseases accidentally introduced to the UK from abroad are
sweeping through the countryside. One of the main pathways for these
introductions includes international trade of plants and trees, helped along by
the warmer, wetter changing climate.
If millions of our trees are lost due to imported pests and diseases, it
will have a huge knock-on impact on the native wildlife that relies on trees.
Buying trees that have been sourced and grown in the UK is one of the
simplest and most effective ways of protecting all types of trees planted in
the UK from new pests and diseases. When new pests and pathogens are imported,
native trees may have no natural defences against them.
What’s more, the predators that keep the numbers of these pests down in
their natural environment may not be present in woodlands here. This means pest
and disease outbreaks can have a devastating impact on our trees and woods.
