30 Jun Tree Conservation and Sustainability Lecture
Tree Conservation and Sustainability Lecture (Kevin Martin)
We took the opportunity to attend a public lecture at St John’s College earlier this month. The talk was delivered by Kevin Martin (Head of Tree Collections at Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew).
The lecture highlighted research that Kevin and colleagues have undertaken in relation to the potential impacts on trees due to climate change predictions, as well as work to help address the issues. Steve’s key takeaways are below:
– The forecast for native species is bleak (see the image – Red and orange are at greatest threat!)
– The UK is slow to uptake the provision of more resilient tree stock
– More research and modelling is required to determine the susceptibility and viability of our existing tree stocks
– Providence of tree stock/seeds is vital (i.e. sourcing from locations that match climate predictions)
The majority of our work is development related and therefore it is of great concern that policy and legislation still has significant weight on ‘native’ trees. Isn’t time that we looked more than 100 years ahead and started planting those trees that can cope with climate predictions?