Precious county woodlands under new threat from surge in disease

DERBYSHIRE trees and woods could be lost due to a surge in a disease affecting ash, the National Trust has warned.

The National Trust says the ravine woods of the White Peak, which are 80% ash, will change beyond recognition because of the disease.

The conservation charity said it faces its worst year on record for felling trees due to ash dieback, in part because of one of the warmest and driest springs on record.

Increased prolonged hot and dry conditions driven by climate change are putting trees under stress and making them more susceptible to disease, speeding up the impact of ash dieback, the trust said.

While the National Trust has been felling around 4,000-5,000 trees a year in recent years, largely as a result of ash dieback, this year it faces having to axe 40,000 trees, with a bill of £2 million.

Ash dieback is caused by a fungus from Asia which was first recorded in the UK in 2012, which blocks its water systems and causes leaves to wilt, shoots to die back, lesions on branches and eventually the death of the tree.

Set to kill between 75-95% of the UK’s ash trees, the disease is expected to wipe out around 2.5 million trees on National Trust land.

Woodlands around the home of painter John Constable in Flatford, Suffolk, are also under threat. In the Lake District, sites that inspired the work of children’s author Beatrix Potter, including Troutbeck Farm near Ambleside, which she managed in 1923 and High Oxen Fell, near Coniston, are also at risk.

National tree and woodland adviser Luke Barley said: “The issue of ash dieback is nothing new, but the speed at which it is spreading seems to have been exacerbated due to the weather, and the time and expense necessary to tackle it contributes to the perfect storm we are witnessing.”

The charity is making a direct appeal to the public to replace lost woodland by donating to the Everyone Needs Nature campaign via its website.