Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum

Photo: Doug Bence. Pollarded chestnut at Cotehele


Photo: Jan Phillips.
Ginette by ancient hawthorn at Calstock



Photo: Dave Beazer.
Lezant Oak

Further information:

Group Set Up To Protect Cornwall's Ancient Trees

 

11 October 2007

ATF Cornwall
Field Meeting and AGM 
Godolphin House

A great opportunity to see one of Britain’s oldest gardens and the National Trust’s latest acquisition.
(By kind permission of Mr John Schofield and The National Trust)
Meet at 11.00 am at Car Park

Full details and directions

ATF field visit in Cornwall October 2004

Download a report on the inaugural meeting of ATF Cornwall please

The vital importance of conserving the county¹s Ancient Trees was highlighted at the inaugural meeting of the Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum, which was sponsored by Imerys.

Organised by Cornwall County Council¹s Environment and Heritage Service and hosted by the National Trust at Lanhydrock, around 50 delegates met to discuss this valuable habitat which has been highlighted in the Cornwall Biodiversity Action Plan as being under threat through a lack of understanding and inappropriate management.

Following a presentation from Keith Alexander, a Director of the National Ancient Tree Forum, there was unanimous support for the proposal to set up a Cornwall group to further the aims of the forum at a local level.

Introducing the proceedings, Cornwall¹s Environment and Heritage Executive
Member Helen Richards said “Cornwall is now internationally recognised for its great parks and gardens which are generating valuable income to the local economy”.

³Many of these gardens have been developed from even older woods and parklands with the trees providing an important context, structure, maturity, shelter and a link with the past. Against the splendour of the magnificent displays of flowering shrubs it is too easy to forget the importance of the old, less flamboyant trees whose beauty lies deeper within, bearing silent witness over many generations. If only they could talk, what a fascinating story they could tell.¹¹

Explaining the Cornwall Biodiversity Action Plan process and ‘the Wealth of Wildlife’ (WoW) Project was Cornwall Biodiversity Initiative Project Officer, Nick Clark.

‘The WoW’! Project works with conservation organisations and charities to produce and implement a biodiversity action plan for the county” said Nick Clark. “It also engages community sectors such as tourism, gardeners and local community groups, highlighting how working for conservation, wildlife can help benefit them as well. A Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum would be an excellent example of partnership working helping to deliver some of the priority actions to help conserve our ancient trees for future generations”.

Peter Herring from the Environment and Heritage Service gave an insight into the cultural and historic importance of ancient trees in Cornwall. He traced their history from the post glacial Owildwood¹, a form of wood pasture, through the widespread clearance of woodlands during the Mesolithic period (9000 to 5000 years ago) to the landscape of today that was largely laid out by medieval times. Many of the medieval deer parks of Cornwall can still be seen in the county¹s parklands today with existing trees being incorporated into their design by successive generations.

Countryside Manager for the National Trust, Brian Muelaner led a discussion on the way forward for the group in Cornwall. After the meeting he commented: “the tremendous response to today’s meeting is very encouraging. However the discussion has highlighted some of the difficult concepts that we shall need to tackle in order to take our message to a wider audience”.

“What is an ancient tree? What¹s the difference between an ancient tree and a veteran? Perhaps the easiest way is to show them as we did this afternoon here at Lanhydrock Park. Images speak volumes!”

“At the end of the day the trees and the extremely rich habitats that they provide are far more important than definitions”.

Organiser of the day, Colin Hawke, the County Council¹s Natural Environment Officer, said, “I am very pleased with the response and was sorry that we were unable to accommodate all those that wished to attend. We will now be forming a small working group to organise future events and to formally set up the Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum.”

Since that inaugural meeting of the Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum, there have been a number of excellent events throughout the county looking at some of the best examples of ancient trees to be found in the county. Each visit has stimulated lively and informative discussions about the most appropriate management to prolong the lives of these grand old giants.

Anybody interested in receiving details of future events should register their interest with Colin Hawke at County Hall, Truro. forestry@cornwall.gov.uk

Further information about ancient trees, their management, history, associated wildlife and the Ancient Tree Hunt can be found at www.ancient-tree.org.uk

More Details

* With the mandate from the meeting a small group will now set up the Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum and arrange future events, activities, information and publicity. The group will initially be lead by Colin Hawke and Brian Muelaner in partnership with volunteers from the various interest groups, including tree owners, managers, conservationists and historians.


Further Information is available from:

Colin Hawke, Cornwall County Council on 01872 222000  or forestry@cornwall.gov.uk


Brian Muelaner, National Trust on 01208 265235 or
email brian.muelaner@nationaltrust.org.uk



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