Crunch time for trees as petition calling for new protection laws is handed in

A petition calling for stronger laws to protect iconic trees has been handed to the government, the UK's largest woodland conservation charity has confirmed.

More than 100,000 signatures pledging support for the Woodland Trust's Living Legends campaign are in a box delivered to 10 Downing Street at noon on Monday 18 November. Trust campaigns manager Adele Benson said passing the 100,000 mark is a "significant milestone", particularly with National Tree Week beginning on Saturday 23 November.

"We're sending a powerful message to the government which shows the strength of feeling for protecting the UK's oldest and most special trees," she said.

"The UK has an incredible heritage of old trees, but most are outside protected areas like nature reserves and some are critically at risk. Some of these 'Living Legends' are more than a thousand years old. We need to enable them to thrive for many more years, locking up carbon, providing irreplaceable homes for wildlife and holding people’s stories and memories."

The Living Legends campaign is calling for a legally protected heritage status for the oldest and most important trees, backed by strong and consistent policy protection for a wider group of veteran trees and increased support for people to care for them.

The UK has more ancient oak trees than the rest of Europe combined. Yet there is no automatic right of protection for these living parts of history. Similar legislation already exists in a number of other European countries including Poland, Italy and Romania. In Germany, a similar scheme protects heritage trees.

Vikings: Valhalla star David Oakes, an ambassador for the Woodland Trust, was among those who presented the petition at the door of 10 Downing Street.

He said: “Ancient and veteran trees aren't simply trees. The longer a tree stays in the ground, the more relationships it has with the life surrounding it. We have nothing in place to protect these trees, these whole habitats, ecosystems, miniature cities that grow up everywhere.”

The Victoria actor was joined by Woodland Trust chief executive Dr Darren Moorcroft, Tree Council chief executive Sara Lom, MP for South Cotswolds Roz Savage MBE, Woodland Trust campaigns manager Adele Benson and Charlie Knowles from the Trust’s youth council.

Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Woods and Trees and MP for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard, Alex Mayer, also witnessed the hand-in at Downing Street.

"Iconic trees need protection and we must be their protectors," she said.

"There is something very special about looking up at a tree that has stood for centuries. They are the quiet witness to the lives of countless people who walked beneath their branches.

"Our oldest trees can link the Battle of Hastings and the Blitz, Charles I and the present King, the Black Death and the pandemic. We need to look after the country's oldest and most important trees, as the government gets on with delivering on its pledge to plant millions more trees across the country."

A poll run by the Woodland Trust showed that 83% of people agreed or strongly agreed that there should be legal protection for the UK's oldest and most special trees, a figure which rose to 88% after the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian's Wall last September. Two men have been charged with felling the famous tree and causing £622,000 of damages.

And research is about to be published showing concerning threats facing the UK's heritage trees.

The 'Heritage Trees Revisited' project saw the Woodland Trust and The Tree Council join forces to survey some of the UK's most notable heritage trees - two decades after they featured in a series of books written by Jon Stokes, director of trees, science and research at The Tree Council.

Throughout 2023, staff and volunteers at The Tree Council and Woodland Trust revisited the trees to assess their condition 20 years on. Some initial results were presented at an event at the Linnean Society (the UK's oldest natural history society) in London on Wednesday 20 November.

Stokes said: "Some older than Stonehenge, living witnesses to the signing of the Magna Carta and the source of every Bramley apple pie you've ever eaten, Britain's heritage trees never cease to astonish me.

"They have coped with everything nature has thrown at them, but our research confirms that the future of these precious trees is at risk. The greatest threats they face is us. However, it's within our gift to protect them and ensure that these magnificent organisms live on for centuries to come. This petition shows I'm not alone in this thought."

Notes To Editors

For more information please contact Owen Phillips on 07958 066766, at owenphillips@woodlandtrust.org.uk or the Woodland Trust press office on 01476 602993.

About the Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK with more than 500,000 supporters.

With a vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, today the Trust owns and cares for more than 1,000 woodland sites, covering around 33,000 hectares.

The Woodland Trust has three key aims:

1. protecting the UK's rare, unique and irreplaceable ancient woodland
2. restoring damaged ancient woodland, nurturing precious pieces of our natural heritage back to life
3. establishing new native trees and woods to create healthy, resilient landscapes for people and wildlife.

Access to all Woodland Trust woods is free so everyone can experience the physical and mental benefits of trees.