Despite the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis I intend to carry on regardless with my regular blog posts and hope for the best. So here is another monthly round-up of tree news articles from around the world. Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.
The European Tree of the Year and others
From a stately Scottish elm to a mighty Russian oak, competitors for the title of European tree of the year do their nations proud, says The Guardian…
New Zealand’s most famous tree vandalised
A willow tree at the southern tip of Lake Wanaka, which appears semi-submerged in the water and is a massively popular Instagram spot, was attacked by someone with a saw, says CNN Travel…
Recent human ancestors may have climbed trees
Based on analysis of fossil leg bones, scientists say a hominin species, believed to be either Paranthropus robustus or early Homo, regularly adopted a posture associated with climbing trees, according to The Herald…
Gum Acacia could help build peace in African region
Rampant insecurity has forced one million people to flee their homes in the Sahel and climate change will likely make things worse, forcing more people to compete for depleted forest resources and land. Yet the soil and harsh climate is hospitable to the economically valuable Acacia Senegal according to New Security Beat…
Scientists plant ‘sentinel trees’ to warn of devastating pests
In a bid to get an early warning of which exotic pests are likely to cause trouble, researchers from the United States, Europe and China are planting ‘sentinel trees’ from their own regions in distant nations, and then observing which insects attack, reports Science…
Camera traps in trees reveal richness of species
Camera traps set high up in trees in Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park captured 35 different mammal species over a 30-day period, reports Mongabay…
Readers’ trees that changed lives
When the Guardian asked readers to tell it about their favourite trees they responded in droves…
Tree rings may date Minoan disaster
The eruption of Thera (Santorini) is one of my favourite subjects and now tree rings could pinpoint the date, reports Phys.org…
Bid to save ‘little forest’ from developers
I love a good tree protest and this one was in London, reported by the Islington Tribune…
Plan for tower clad in trees and shrubs
The Rainbow Tree is a project for a greenery-covered timber tower rising to an impressive height of 115 m (377 ft) in Cebu, Philippines, reports New Atlas…
Life and death of mysterious ponderosa pine
A majestic ponderosa pine, standing tall in what is widely thought to have been the ‘centre of the world’ for the Ancestral Puebloan people, may have more mundane origins than previously believed, according to research led by tree-ring experts at the University of Arizona, reported in Phys.Org…
New map of UK capital’s most impressive trees
The Londonist reviews a new map by Paul Wood, highlighting great trees in the capital…
You can read all my previous tree news posts here…
The Squirrelbasket 
social distancing for trees ;~)