The Herefordshire Tree Forum

We are sorry to have to announce the very sad death of our friend and HTF founder member, David Lovelace, who died on Tuesday 5th May.  David will leave an immense gap in the lives of family and friends, but will also be hugely missed as one of Herefordshire’s most knowledgeable ancient tree and woodland specialists; he was well known and highly respected for his long-standing work in woodland conservation, landscape history, and the protection of ancient woodlands.

A SHARED VISION FOR HEREFORDSHIRE'S TREESCAPE

After a four week consultation was carried out by LUC (Land Use Consultants) on behalf of Herefordshire Council, the Herefordshire Tree, Hedgerow and Woodland Strategy has been published and is available for free download.
h-THaws is a strategic plan for the conservation, improvement and expansion of the county's treescape. The document focuses on both urban and rural areas, providing strategies to enhance the local environment, guidance on the management of trees and hedgerows as well as supporting increased planting, and improving the resilience of existing assets.

A Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) is required by the Environment Act 2021 and It will set out local priorities to restore and enhance habitats and recover populations of species. The Herefordshire LNRS is one of 48 which together will completely cover England and support national policies for nature recovery. This strategy is aimed at reversing the ongoing decline of nature and biodiversity in England, through practical and coordinated action of the implementation of the Nature Recovery Network on a local level.

The London Tree Officers Association (LTOA) said trees were being felled across the country because councils were afraid of being liable for expensive property repairs.

Councils in England have given permission to fell more than 1,000 trees which previously had Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs).

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Spokesperson said applications to address tree-related subsidence damage must be supported by appropriate information, with other factors eliminated as far as possible.

The BBC analysed 143 Freedom of Information request responses from councils in England. Of those, 10 directly provided figures for the financial years between 2019 and 2024, showing permission was granted to fell 1,403 previously protected trees.

Full story can be found HERE.

The Defra backed Trees Outside Woodland (TOW) Fund is now open for a second year, with more than double the support available for tree, hedgerow and orchard establishment projects in England. Following huge demand in 2025, the Trees Outside Woodland Fund, a collaboration between national environmental charity, The Tree Council, and Defra, opens today, offering grants of up to £40,000 for local authority and charity-led projects.

Supporting initiatives that boost biodiversity, improve air quality, reduce flood risk and create meaningful environmental enhancements for communities across England, the fund is specifically designed to encourage establishment of the trees we encounter most often in daily life – including those in parks, playgrounds and streets.

Natural England has completed a detailed condition assessment of the River Lugg SSSI, part of the nationally protected River Wye catchment. A blog sets out the findings of that assessment, explaining the key environmental pressures, including excess nutrients, fine sediment and invasive species, that are contributing to the river's "unfavourable-declining" status.
It follows up a report form 2025 showing that the river was among the worst for hazardous chemicals.

Trees are potentially long-lived and it is highly likely that they will face a significantly different climate when mature. In view of this, anyone selecting trees for planting now and in the future needs to be assured that they are choosing species that can withstand whatever changes climate change might bring about. The RHS has provided some advice on choosing trees for climate resilience, while experts at Kew, with its collection of 11,000 trees, have undertaken an analysis of the suitability of their existing tree collections for the future climate in this part of the UK, as well as having researched and refined potential sources of ‘new plants’ from places with climatic conditions analogous to our predicted temperatures and rainfall patterns.

Herefordshire is home to more ancient oaks than most counties, more indeed than can be found throughout many other European countries, and the Old Oak of Ross is one of that number. It has survived for perhaps 900 years but over the past ten years or so its condition has declined. The image on the right, taken May 2025, shows the Old Oak to the right of a much larger tree which, however, only dates from the 1920s. it can be seen that the section on the right appears to be dead although the left-hand part of the crown still bears green foliage. The reasons for the relatively sudden decline of the tree are uncertain but may be the result of the inundation by polluted water from the river Wye or perhaps as a result of historical agricultural practices. It can be seen that an agricultural exclusion zone has now been established around both the Old Oak and its younger neighbour.

Benhall Farm, within which the tree is situated, is tenanted, being part of the 13,000 acres that forms the Duchy of Cornwall's Herefordshire Estate. The duchy has been approached with the aim of initiating a programme of research to determine the cause of the decline and to put work in hand to improve the tree's growing conditions with the aim of halting and perhaps reversing the tree's deterioration. A grant application to fund these works has been presented under the 'Farming in Protected Landscapes' (FiPL) scheme. The initial response from the Duchy indicates that it is
"... not in a position to accommodate this [project] at this time".
No further details have been forthcoming.

The Major oak, one of Europe’s oldest, largest and most celebrated ancient trees, has died. The huge tree, which has grown in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, for at least 1,000 years, failed to produce any leaves this year, after becoming stressed by a series of hot, dry summers.

Forest Research has published one of the most comprehensive reviews to date on using natural processes such as natural colonisation as an alternative to tree planting for woodland creation.
Findings show that these methods can expand tree cover, support biodiversity, and create resilient woodlands, though uptake among land managers remains limited due to uncertainty and practical challenges.
Researchers highlight the benefits of hybrid approaches that combine natural processes with planting, alongside the need for better guidance and support.

Read the article HERE

The State of the UK’s Woods and Trees 2025 report, published by the Woodland Trust has revealed that the quantity and variety of woodland wildlife is plummeting, despite a marginal rise in tree cover. The Trust says this is due to the deteriorating ecological condition within UK woodlands.

Expanding on the groundbreaking first State of the UK’s Woods and Trees report in 2021 which showed that only 7% of Britain’s native woodland was in good condition, the new report warns that these vital ecosystems are less effective as habitats for wildlife because they lack complexity, such as having enough trees of differing ages, states and sizes.

Full story can be found HERE.