Great Trees of East Devon
Very old or unusual trees support rare wildlife and often have a fascinating story to tell. Britain is thought to have the largest number of old broadleaved trees still surviving in Northern Europe, so the way we look after our veteran trees and their wildlife is crucial to global biodiversity.
From 2005 until 2008, East Devon District Council hosted the Great Trees of East Devon project. This included:
- running the Great Tree Hunt to find the most interesting and important trees in the district;
- supporting the parish tree wardens with training, advice and resources
- visiting schools and providing materials for them to take part in tree hunts and seed projects
- giving advice and information about looking after ancient trees to landowners and other interested people
Legacies of the Great Trees project
Although the Great Trees project came to an end at the end of March 2008, it has left a number of legacies, both in the short term and, we hope, in the longer term. These include:
- a new poster showing images of all of East Devon’s Great Trees and the story
behind each tree. Films have been produced to tell the stories of seven of the trees:
The Farway Yew
The Salcombe Regis Thorn
The Bicton Monkey Puzzle Tree
The Whimple Wonder
The Phear Park Lucombe Oak
The East Budleigh Mark Tree
The Great Oak at Upton Pyne
There is also a CD with a presentation available for playing in community buildings. - postcards of a selection of the Great Trees which are available in that tree's parish to help raise funds for community projects.
- seed will be collected on an annual basis from some of the Great Trees as part of the East Devon Great Tree Seed Bank, hosted by Bicton College. When ready, the young saplings will be available for community planting.
- owners of Great Trees were given the option of having a free condition survey undertaken by an arboricultural consultant. The owners were then given advice on how to care for their tree to extend its life and protect it in the future.
- All the information gathered about the Great Trees has been sent to national or regional surveys, such as the Ancient Tree Hunt or the Devon Gardens tree register, or local collections.
Acknowledgements
East Devon's Great Trees project received both local and national acclaim, but none of it would have been possible without funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Nature , the Tree Council and East Devon AONB Partnership. or without East Devon District Council's Countryside Service agreeing to host the project. Of course, a project is only successful if people get active and take part, so many, many thanks to everybody who got involved.
