With the felling of an ancient oak in Enfield, trees are back in the news once again. It of course resurrects the feelings of devastation people felt when the Sycamore Gap tree was chopped down.
As chair of parliament’s all-party group for woods and trees, I think trees are tree-mendous! I also know that’s a belief shared by people up and down the country too. In fact 100,000 of them signed a petition last year that we handed to 10 Downing Street calling for legal protection for the UK’s oldest and most special trees.
The latest instance of harm makes the case more urgent.
Surprisingly the majority of the country’s oldest and most important trees are unprotected. Unlike key archaeological sites, there is no equivalent to Scheduled Ancient Monument status for equally ancient trees. Instead they often remain completely unprotected from destruction.
That’s what the Living Legends campaign wants to correct. Led by the Woodland Trust, we are seeking to give special status and protection to trees that have stood for centuries, not just because of their age or size, but because of the stories they tell and the communities they anchor.
From the ancient yews of churchyards to the mighty oaks that inspired poets and peacemakers, these trees are woven into the fabric of our national identity.
Living Legends calls for stronger planning rules, a national register of heritage trees, and dedicated funding for their care and conservation.
There is even oven-ready legislation ready. Baroness Young has a Heritage Trees Bill which proposes the introduction of a list of nationally important heritage trees and a Heritage Tree Preservation Order that could be used to promote the protection and conservation of such important trees.
We can also take inspiration from a number of other European countries that already have similar legal protections in place for their celebrated trees.
The campaign also urges all of us from policymakers to schoolchildren to celebrate, learn about, and stand up for these green giants.
I’ve met people who have fought tirelessly to save beloved local trees. I’ve seen first-hand the passion people feel because when a tree like this is lost, it’s not just wood and leaves we’re mourning, it’s part of our shared memory and our hopes for a greener future.
This is a pro-tree government that is planting millions of trees, including in the newly announced national forest in the West of England, creating the ancient woodlands of tomorrow. But while planting is vital, protection is equally urgent. We must ensure that the remarkable trees we already have are not lost. Safeguarding our living legends must go hand-in-hand with growing new ones.
Let’s be the generation who stood tall, like the trees that need our protection and be the government that makes the change needed for our Great British trees.
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