Protect our Living Legends: A Legacy Beyond the Sycamore Gap

The national response to the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree last September showed us that this was a very significant tree for many, many people. Perhaps it was something about where the tree sat in the landscape here at Hadrian’s Wall. Perhaps it was the fact that it was in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, the 1990s film with Kevin Costner. Either way, millions of people felt a connection to this tree, and we did see that in 2016 when the tree won the National Tree of the Year competition run by the Woodland Trust for England. What hit home was how irreplaceable that tree is. I was interested in how many people asked the question, “How do we replace that tree?”  And the answer is, you really can’t. And it made me really sad that I will not see a replacement tree in this location grow to that size within my lifetime, no matter what we do. It was just lost. 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. The younger trees, they have a small village, a hamlet of life there. But the ones that have been in the ground for hundreds of years, if not thousands of years, they’ve got cities, mega-cities, metropolises of life there. And we have to keep them there. We have nothing in place to protect these trees, these whole habitats, ecosystems, mini-nature cities that sort of grow up everywhere. They’re immensely important from an ecological perspective, but they’re also a treasure trove of stories and culture, cultural and personal connections with people. So, when you stand in front of a tree that’s maybe hundreds of years old, sometimes a thousand years old, I get the sense of everyone that’s walked near that tree before, what that tree has witnessed. How they’ve been a constant in a landscape that is probably changed throughout the time that humans have been here. There was a moment when this wall was protected and government legislation was created to protect the wall, and at the same time, a man planted a tree that has grown with it. Now, the wall is still here, and the wall is still protected, but the tree sadly isn’t, and there was never any legislation put in place to protect said tree. I think that is quite resonant. So, the Woodland Trust have a Living Legends petition that you can go out and sign right now. Tens of thousands of people have already signed it, and the plan is not only to protect ancient and veteran trees and woodlands, but the plan is to put in legislation to stop development taking down what we’ve got. But also to provide support for those people who have these trees and woodlands in the area that they own, and so that they don’t feel alone, that they can help bring these trees into the future with us. Legislation like this already exists in a number of other countries, so Poland, Italy, Romania, there’s a similar scheme in Germany for heritage trees. So, I visited Poland last year with a group of Woodland Trust staff to look at their Green Monuments scheme. This provides legal protection for about 30,000 very old and special trees across Poland. We met the people who own the trees, we met the councils, community groups involved in conserving them, and we could see that it worked. I think the first big challenge is deciding which trees to protect, but we already have a really good starting place for this. The Woodland Trust, together with partners, runs a project called the Ancient Tree Inventory. That is a nationwide map of old and special trees, and on that map, we already have over 20,000 verified ancient trees. The second big challenge is consultation with the people who own those trees. So, the Woodland Trust already works closely with tree owners, providing advice, guidance on management, running training courses, that sort of thing. These trees are scattered through the landscape. They’re on farms, parks, gardens, churchyards. So, all those people need to have a say in how these trees are protected and conserved for the future. So, if you want to help us with the Living Legends campaign, the first thing you can do is visit our website. There’s a Living Legends page on there. Sign our petition, add your name to the 80,000-plus people who already have signed it. Let’s get us to 100,000, and let’s take it to parliament. The Heritage Trees Bill is legislation that is drafted. It is written. It is ready to go into national law. This is the point where suddenly, the hopes and dreams of 50 years of tireless campaigning will become something that is ironclad, something that will keep our national heritage, our natural heritage, where it should be, in the ground. And that is a wonderful, wonderful thing, and an opportunity that has to be grasped with open arms. Despite the various laws and policies, the first line of defense for protecting trees is our feelings and attitudes towards them, and the understanding that you don’t just cut a tree down for no reason at all. The felling of the Sycamore Gap tree violated this social contract that we have with trees as a nation. I think this is why we all felt it, whether we knew the tree or not. Introducing new legislation to recognise and protect our oldest and most special trees would be a big step towards renewing the social contract that was broken at Hadrian’s Wall on September the 28th, 2023.