In the grounds of Alloway’s Auld Kirk, stands a gentle giant – a grand and imposing sycamore. It is easy to imagine this tree was around when Rabbie Burns began writing poems inspired by the natural world around him.
As we celebrate the Bard’s 250th anniversary, the Woodland Trust Scotland is asking people across Ayrshire to help us find other giants which may have been around in the days of Burns – by taking part in the Ancient Tree Hunt.
The Ancient Tree Hunt will involve thousands of people finding and mapping online at www.ancienttreehunt.org.uk the fattest and oldest trees in the UK. Everyone can help to record these national treasures, with the aim of getting at least 100,000 trees mapped across the UK by 2011. For our pre-school hunters we have Rupert the Bear to lend a hand.
Ancient trees, which may be hundreds, even 1000 of years old, can be found not only in parks and gardens, but also in hedges, fields, and in the very heart of our cities and towns. As well as being rare in their own right, these trees are the tenement blocks of biodiversity, providing unique homes to a significant proportion of our most endangered wildlife.
There is no official register of ancient trees in the UK, unlike some other European countries. Yet it is estimated that Britain may be home to around 80 per cent of Northern Europe’s ancient trees. Without knowing exactly where these trees are in our landscape there is an even greater risk of many more being lost and forgotten. That’s why the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, has teamed up with the Ancient Tree Forum, Tree Register of British Isles (TROBI) and other partners, to put these trees back on the map.
“We’re asking people to look out for and record trees which are particularly old, fat and gnarled” said the Woodland Trust’s Andrew Fairbairn, “The sort of size we are after is a tree, perhaps an oak, which is so big that it would take you and at least two or more friends to hug it all the way around, finger tip to finger tip. It is a rough and ready way to do the measuring, and at a stroke it turns you into tree-huggers.”
He goes on to explain: “It is extremely important that these trees are recorded for posterity. Ancient monuments and buildings are well documented and cared for but these living monuments are far more at risk. They are our living history and we owe it to them to make sure they are cared for. With Burns night approaching why not explore the countryside that Burns loved and help us find other trees which date back to when he was a young man penning his works”
You can see find out where ancient trees others already recorded in Ayrshire at www.ancienttreehunt.org.uk/discoveries/TreeSearch.htm
Notes to editors
For media enquiries contact:
Jacqui Morris on 01355 578777 or mobile 07979 706675 alternatively call The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail
media@woodlandtrust.org.ukThe Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters.
The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.
In 1984, the Trust acquired its first wood in Scotland. In the last 25 years the Trust has increased its holdings in Scotland it now owns 80 sites across Scotland covering 8,500 hectares. Further news can be accessed via this website.