Western Morning News (Saturday)
Bay has lost nearly a third of its trees in last decade
TORBAY has lost nearly a quarter of a million trees in the last decade, according to a shocking new report published on the bay’s “green canopy”. The deadly ash dieback disease is one of the main reasons for the loss of the trees, and experts are warning that tens of thousands more of Torbay’s ash trees could be lost in the coming years.
But the bay’s “canopy cover” – land which is under the cover of trees – has increased over the same period. Torbay Council leader Steve Darling said the local authority would do all it could to protect existing trees while at the same time planting many more younger trees.
In 2010 Torbay was the first town in the UK to do an i-Tree Eco Sample survey of its tree population, and the study kick-started a drive for councils across the country to understand the structure and value of their “urban forests”.
The study worked out how much carbon the trees were storing, and the area’s percentage canopy cover. More than a decade later Torbay has become the first place to re-run the study to see how things have changed over 10 years.
The council says the follow-up survey’s results were unexpected. The number of trees in Torbay has reduced from 692,000 to just 458,800, a loss of 233,200 trees. There has also been a reduction in tree density per hectare from 109 trees to 71.
But despite the reduction in tree numbers, canopy cover has increased significantly from 11.8% in 2010, to 18.2% in 2021, when the follow-up survey was done. Tree canopy cover has gone up by 6.4%and the amount of carbon stored has similarly risen.
The loss of trees across the bay can be partly explained by natural thinning of trees in woodland areas, and also the removal of trees on development sites. The increase in canopy cover is principally due to the existing trees in Torbay being well maintained and receiving good care, which has allowed them to flourish and spread their canopies.
Kenton Rogers of Treeconomics, which carried out the research, said: “This highlights the importance of maintaining existing trees. This is crucial to improving canopy cover and the ongoing management of established trees has allowed them to continue to live and thrive in Torbay.”
The pest posing a threat to the greatest percentage of Torbay’s trees is the Emerald Ash Borer, a bright green beetle which attacks both ash and elm species. The beetle population is not yet present in the UK but is spreading across Europe. Ash dieback disease poses the largest current threat. It is already present in Torbay and could affect tens of thousands of trees there. The report adds: “This disease is often fatal, and will likely be incredibly damaging to the urban forest.”
Two thirds of Torbay’s ash trees are already in “poor” condition and the rest are said to be “critical”. The report goes on: “This indicates the severity of the disease in Torbay, and as the ash is the most common tree species in Torbay, this is a serious concern. It will be important to tackle ash dieback and prepare to replace the trees which will inevitably be lost.”
Cllr Darling added: “We welcome the new i-Tree survey findings and I would like to thank Treeconomics, SWISCo and of course some of our local tree warden volunteers who helped carry out the updated survey. The report recognises that it is really important to look after our existing, established trees and this is something we will be working on with SWISCo, our contractors Hi-Line, and our tree warden volunteers.” He said more new trees were being planted.