Yorkshire Wildlife Trust are closing one of their iconic York reserves on 8th and 9th August to safely remove trees killed by ash dieback disease. The public are asked to please stay away from the reserve so the works can be safely carried out.
A central group of ash trees on the reserve directly beside the path at Moorlands nature reserve have been infected, and as a result present a risk to pedestrians passing.
Ash dieback is a disease caused by a fungus which has been spreading for over 10 years across the UK. Some trees may succumb within 2 years whilst other trees last up to 10 years or more, and outward signs are difficult to spot. It’s not possible to stop the spread of the disease due to its widespread nature in the UK, but people can report concerns on trees to the Forestry Commission’s Tree Alert.
The fungus kills off the canopy of the ash tree, preventing the tree from building energy from the leaves to grow, which causes the timber to become very brittle. As a result, an infected tree is unlikely to fall like a traditional felled tree but instead can lose large limbs or fall entirely without warning.
Dave Powell, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s reserve manager for Moorlands, said, “This is a devastating disease for ash trees across the UK and it’s taking time and costs away from other conservation work. Safety is paramount to our visitors and colleagues, which means we have taken the difficult decision to close the reserve and bring down the trees closest to the path."
Due to the nature of the disease and the proximity of nationally rare and significant species in the reserve, the Trust is working with specialist contractors and a tree harvesting machine, which can safely dismantle and lower the trees down.
The Trust intends to leave as much of the original trees as possible for wildlife. Timber from the felled trees is usually left in-situ to rot naturally and provide habitat and food, and the material from the canopies in Moorlands will be used to create “dead hedges” to line the footpath edges to keep people to the paths and protect the woodland floor. The remaining trees further from the path will be left to die naturally and eventually fall safely.
Dave added “We know what Moorlands means to our many visitors, so we want this to be a minimal disruption. People will notice the gaps in the canopy after the work has been completed but overtime the treetops will flourish again. Our other veteran trees including oak and sycamore thankfully remain unaffected.”
Safely removing trees killed by ash dieback on reserves across Yorkshire costs Yorkshire Wildlife Trust thousands every year. There is no funding available to help mitigate the impact of ash dieback, which means increasing costs of safe removal as the disease spreads restrict the Trust from doing other important reserve work.
You can help to support the Trust’s reserves work by joining our 45,000-strong membership community or with a donation here.
