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Eco & Environment, Nature & Wildlife | Posted on September 11th, 2017 |
Conference celebrates the ash tree in Dorset and Wiltshire before it's too late
The beautiful ash tree, which has proved so vital to human society down the ages, could soon disappear from the British Isles altogether due to Chalara, ash dieback disease, and the Springhead Trust is running a six-day celebration of the tree in Dorset and Wiltshire before it's too late.
Large swathes of ash trees have already been decimated in the east of the country and before the south west suffers the same fate, Fontmell Magna-based Springhead Trust, the rural centre for creative and sustainable living, is running a six-day celebration of the ash in Dorset and Wiltshire, including on Cranborne Chase AONB. It will be the only conference of its kind in the UK this year.
The Springhead AshScape Project, organised in collaboration with Cranborne AONB and the Ancient Tree Forum, is being partly funded through the AONB’s Sustainable Development Fund.
It starts with an ash themed photographic and art exhibition on Tuesday 10 October, with a two-day conference taking place on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 October. Speakers will include Rob Wolton, chair of the Devon Ash Dieback Forum, Tim Rowlands from Future Forest, who will discuss the Defra-funded Living Ash Project, and the Springhead Trust’s director Edward Parker, who will discuss ash tree uses and myths through history.
The project concludes with three unique musical processional events on Sunday 15 October and the chance to don headphones and listen to the internal workings of a live ash tree.
Additionally, there will be a field trip to view ash trees at Lyscombe and Highdon SSSI in Dorset AONB and the opportunity to take part in an innovative tree recording project using a single iPhone in Cranborne Chase AONB. This project will carry on after the events at Springhead and will involve local schools and groups.
“During our celebration we will be looking at what will replace the ash tree and what choices we have when managing ash woodlands, among myriad other things. It’s a complex picture, which is why we need to come together to discuss what will happen,” said Edward Parker, an authority on trees who has also written several books. “The human race’s relationship with the ash goes back at least to Ancient Greece and its uses in transport, farming and medicine are well documented. We want to take a very close look at this tree before it’s too late.”
The celebration of the ash tree runs between 10-15 October.
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