News
As part of National Plant Health Week in May, Check a Sweet Chestnut was launched. This is a collaboration between the RHS, Defra, APHA, Forest Research and Observatree looking to understand the health of sweet chestnut trees in the UK.
Running over summer Check a Sweet Chestnut invites you to find a local sweet chestnut tree and report its health to TreeAlert.
What is a sweet chestnut tree?
Sweet chestnuts are large trees with long glossy green leaves and are found throughout the UK in urban areas, parks and woodland.
What am I looking for?
Look for Oriental chestnut gall wasp leaf galls
and disfigured patches of bark with a sparse crown of leaves (symptoms of sweet chestnut blight)
In order to report a healthy tree you must register with TreeAlert and compile a ‘healthy trees’ report, or if you find Oriental chestnut gall wasp or sweet chestnut blight you can complete a ‘general report’ and select ‘2023 Check a Sweet Chestnut’ as the project (although you do not have to be registered to complete this). Selecting this project will enable us to distinguish these reports from other TreeAlert data and add to previous records collected between 2020 and 2022 for Project HOMED.
If you are registered your contact details will auto populate at the start of the reporting process speeding up the time it takes to submit a report. You will also be able to view your healthy and general reports after submission.
In summary:
Find out more! Check a sweet chestnut | RHS / RHS Gardening
A new study, led by Forest Research, has been published which looks at whether Ips typographus would select Sitka spruce, compared to Norway spruce, as a host for breeding, and for the first time, reviews the chemical ecology behind these choices.
Forest Research is looking for private woodland or forest managers to participate in a research project. We’re investigating how the risk of climate change is perceived and the extent to which adaptation measures are built into management plans.
Forest Research is leading Defra’s NCEA programme, measuring, mapping and assessing England’s ecosystems and natural capital to inform environmental policy and sustainability.
A new study, led by Forest Research, has been published which looks at whether Ips typographus would select Sitka spruce, compared to Norway spruce, as a host for breeding, and for the first time, reviews the chemical ecology behind these choices.
Forest Research is looking for private woodland or forest managers to participate in a research project. We’re investigating how the risk of climate change is perceived and the extent to which adaptation measures are built into management plans.
Forest Research is leading Defra’s NCEA programme, measuring, mapping and assessing England’s ecosystems and natural capital to inform environmental policy and sustainability.
