News from the world of trees 2021 #2

A game-changing year for trees?

It’s not every year that firefighters wrap the world’s largest living tree in an oversized aluminium blanket, notes Vox…

Here is another (very occasional) round-up of tree news articles from around the world – first one since April!

There are reasons. The only real news in the world this year has been Covid-19. This has squeezed out some of the more wacky stories I would previously have noticed.

I have been busy but I am also disillusioned. So many tree stories are either tragic tree disease and felling or attempts to plant, plant, plant. Not much new there.

To cap everything, it is very annoying that every story I point to asks you to accept cookies before you proceed and I know this puts off a lot of readers. So whether I continue with this theme is uncertain.

But for now click on each of the pictures if you would like to see the full stories.

Lone hawthorn on a beach is UK’s best

The Woodland Trust has named the Kippford hawthorn on a windswept cockleshell beach in Dumfries & Galloway as the British Tree of the Year…

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News from the world of trees 2021 #1

Here is another (occasional) round-up of tree news articles from around the world – first one since December so I apologise that it’s a long read! Click on each of the pictures if you would like to see the full stories.

Could blighted American chestnut trees return?

Here’s an interesting one from Sierra, suggested by Diana Studer in Capetown: Before a disastrous blight, the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was a keystone species in eastern forests. Could genetic engineering help bring it back?

Brits urged to spot at-risk sweet chestnuts

Meanwhile in the UK the Royal Horticultural Society is enlisting everyone to log sweet chestnut trees (Castanea sativa), which are under threat from a gall wasp – here’s a report from House Beautiful…

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News from the world of trees 2020 #8

Here is another (occasional) round-up of tree news articles from around the world – I can’t believe I have not had time to post one of these since August! Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.

British Christmas tree grower of the year

A family business in York has been crowned the winner of the Champion Christmas Tree Grower of the Year competition – Guardian report in pictures…

Donate a tree for a brighter 2021

New Zealand is hoping to inspire some positivity for 2021 with its Forest of Hope campaign, reports Travel and Leisure…

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News from the world of trees 2020 #7

Here is another (not-quite) 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.

Making the most of a tree epidemic

Cornell University researchers in upstate New York aim to upcycle decaying ash trees into usable building structures, facades and smart furniture, reports The Conversation…

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

The UK Save the Oaks campaign has united communities with coppicing experts and woodland ecologists to rescue tens of thousands of oak saplings from destruction, reports the Ecologist…

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News from the world of trees 2020 #6

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.

Two-acre cashew tree looks like a mini forest

The largest cashew-nut tree in the world is featured in the Mail Online…

Big cats love climbing trees

Researcher Alexander Braczkowski spent a year monitoring and filming tree lions in the Queen Elizabeth conservation area in Uganda – the drone video is on the Guardian website…

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News from the world of trees 2020 #5

Here is another monthly round-up of tree news articles from around the world – and in some ways trees are more important than ever during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.

Quinine tree from Andes that changed the world

A BBC Travel feature explores the history of the discovery of the cinchona tree, source of quinine, a cure for malaria currently being tested (controversially) against the Covid-19 pandemic…

Urban planners’ choice of male trees makes hay fever worse

According to the Guardian, horticulturists are urging a better sex mix of city trees to mitigate rising asthma and hay fever problems…

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News from the world of trees 2020 #4

Here is another monthly round-up of tree news articles from around the world – and in some ways trees are more important than ever during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.

Hug a tree to overcome isolation

Iceland’s forestry service has come up with a novel way to overcome the sense of isolation many people suffer because of Covid-19 preventative measures, reports the BBC…

Londoner labels street trees with love

During the lockdown someone has started writing captions in chalk for the trees of Walthamstow, identifying each species, according to TimeOut…

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News from the world of trees 2020 #3

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…

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News from the world of trees 2020 #2

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.

Tesla can fell pines for factory

A German court has given electric car maker Tesla permission to clear forest to build a manufacturing plant, says the Guardian…

Sweden’s forest policy wreaks havoc

Sweden presents itself as a global torchbearer on the environment, but its forest policy is wreaking havoc. The EU must act to stop it, write five European NGOs on the Euractiv news site…

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News from the world of trees 2020 #1

Here is my first round-up of tree news articles from around the world in 2020. Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.

Giant tribute to green activists

A eucalyptus tree in Tasmania has been named after Greta Thunberg, reports SBS News…

All hands to the pruning of giant yew

Volunteers took part in the annual prune of the Great Yew at the National Trust’s Shugborough Estate in Staffordshire, reports the Express and Star…

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