Treat ancient forests like our cathedrals

TREES have been much in the news recently.

Whether it be the conflagrations in the Amazon and elsewhere, Ethiopia’s planting of 350 million trees in one day,

HS2’s impending destruction of ancient woodlands, or calls to plant more trees to combat climate change, they are in the forefront of environmental action and debate.

In the West Midlands we have a long history of planting and caring for them. A hundred years ago, for example, we had the Midland Reafforesting Society, more recently the Urban (then National) Forestry Unit, and now Birmingham Trees for Life.

We find it difficult to keep a sense of proportion where trees are concerned. Protests and ‘save the tree’ campaigns are frequent when old and well-loved specimens are threatened with destruction, whilst the planting of tens of thousands of trees goes almost unnoticed.

As to the fires in the Amazon this year, serious as they are, they are much reduced in number and area compared with the first decade of this century (in 2005 130,000 fires destroyed 160,000 hectares; this year 90,000 fires destroyed 45,000 hectares).

This downward trend is threatened, however, by the Brazilian Government’s latest policies and encouragement of deforestation.

HS2 has been in the news for agreeing to suspend the destruction of 11 ancient woodlands in Staffordshire and Warwickshire whilst the review into the project is under way.

Welcome as the suspension is, it begs the question as to why ancient woodlands are not treated like our Gothic cathedrals – no one would countenance demolishing a cathedral to build a railway. The ancient woods are just as old and just as irreplaceable.

On the other side of the coin, HS2 is among the sponsors and supporters of Birmingham Trees for Life, its contribution going towards tree planting in 10 inner city parks. Hundreds of volunteers and schoolchildren have planted more than 85,000 trees in the last few years. These add to the estimated six million trees already growing in the city.

Now that’s what you call an urban forest.

Peter Shirley is a Midlandbased conservationist