Fight the threats to Scotland’s native woods and trees

Woodland Trust Scotland advocates for the protection of Scotland’s precious native trees and ancient woodlands. But what are we actually protecting them from? And what can the next Scottish Parliament do to make that protection stronger?

Scotland’s native woods and trees are irreplaceable natural assets. They support biodiversity, store carbon, improve air and water quality, enhance urban communities and provide shade and shelter on our streets and on agricultural land. They are woven into Scotland’s national story in history and in literature. To an extent, we take the presence of our trees and woods for granted. But we shouldn’t, because they’re under significant threat from many angles, and they need our protection.

Take deer. Red and roe deer are native to Scotland, but their current numbers are anything but natural. The Scottish Government estimates there are a million deer in Scotland, with no natural predators left. That puts extraordinary pressure on our native woods and trees, as unmanaged deer and deer management objectives which don’t prioritise nature recovery often prevent woods from regenerating or expanding naturally, making woodland creation expensive by requiring costly fences and ongoing management.

To address this, we need legislative improvements, as we had in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, and further incentives for land managers to bring deer numbers down to levels compatible with natural regeneration of our most precious ancient woodlands.

Imported diseases pose another significant threat to our native woods and trees, especially when coupled with climate change. Dutch elm disease, larch disease, ash dieback, needle blight and other pathogens have all wrought havoc in our woodlands and have devastated some of our iconic species. And without improved biosecurity, more are on their way.

Invasive non-native species (INNS) such as Rhododendron ponticum, the grey squirrel, Himalayan balsam and certain beetles like Ips typographus are also threatening the future of Scotland’s woodlands. And while we need to tackle their spread – the best cure is prevention – we also need better horizon scanning for future threats as part of a well-resourced plan to tackle INNS.

We also need to fix the holes in our bucket by banning the sale of the most harmful species, like Rhododendron ponticum, and we need to support domestic nurseries to promote UK and Ireland Sourced and Grown (UKISG) trees and reduce our reliance on imported trees, which come with significant biosecurity risks.

Inappropriate development also poses a threat to our native woodlands. This includes poorly-sited roads, renewable generation and transmission infrastructure, housing or commercial developments and more. In addition to a strong National Planning Framework, now is the time for refreshed tree protection legislation for Scotland. This could create a new ‘heritage status’ for ancient and veteran trees, new criminal offences for harming or destroying significant trees, stronger penalties for perpetrators of harm, and modernisation of the Tree Preservation Order regime.

We also need a definitive national register of ancient woodland which brings together all the inconsistent data we have about the location and condition of some of our most precious trees and woods into one irrefutable source. After all, how can we protect something if we can't agree where it is or what condition it is in?

In Mair Trees Please, we’ve set out how politicians in the next Scottish Parliament can fight the threats to Scotland’s native woods and trees and give them the protection they deserve.

You can help by asking your parliamentary candidates to support Mair Trees Please now!