Trees, Science and Opinion
26th July 2021
A person who practices professional arboriculture is termed an Arboriculturalist / Arboriculturist. The different terms are often used interchangeably, but which one is the correct spelling? The Oxford English Dictionary has the noun of arboriculture as arboriculturist; likewise, the Collins dictionary refers to arboriculturist (they don’t list Arboriculturalist). Leading authorities within the industry are clear. The Terms and Definitions of the British Standard 5837:2012 refer to an arboriculturist (as a person who has, through relevant education, training and experience, gained […]
23rd October 2020
Lincolnshire was described in a BBC article this week as having the lowest tree cover in the county. But is this accurate? From our experience of regularly undertaking tree surveys in Lincolnshire, this doesn’t necessarily ring true. We review the claim and critically look at the reasons suggested for Lincolnshire’s low tree cover: The BBC article “Gardens help towns and cities beat countryside for tree cover” detailed research which estimated the percentage of tree cover in different parts of the […]
12th October 2020
Evidence showing that trees support mental wellbeing and stress relief.
26th June 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has been described as perhaps the biggest global crisis of our generation, and one that will probably shape the world for years to come. The impact on healthcare systems, the economy, politics and culture are already noticeable. While the associated lockdown created virtual ghost-towns of most urban areas, there was an upsurge of people visiting nearby green spaces. For many people, the pandemic has led to a direct realisation of the profound value of local accessible green […]
21st September 2019
A few of the team from AWA Tree Consultants travelled down to the Arboricultural Association Midland Branch Seminar, held at the Hawkesyard Estate in Staffordshire. It was an excellent day of high-end arboriculture, with presentations from Jeremy Barrell and Dr. David Lonsdale – two leading expert witnesses in arboriculture. The day began with an open forum led by the audience, to discuss tree risk management. Questions fielded by Jeremy and David included: Ash dieback and tree risk. The requirement – […]
8th January 2019
In Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” there is a famous scene where John Cleese’s character ‘Brother Reg’ is trying to incite his gang to rebel against the occupying Roman army. After a few minutes of debate, he utters the immortal line: “Alright! – but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” Well, we could also add “The Sycamore” to this list. Although […]
6th November 2018
It has been reported that 32 of the 35 war memorial trees which were scheduled to be felled are set to be saved using engineering solutions. Councillor Lewis Dagnall, Cabinet Member for Environment and Streetscene, said: I am confirming that we have developed a plan to retain 32 of the 35 war memorial trees that were originally earmarked for replacement…“Residents have been clear with me that they would like war memorial trees to be treated as a special case.” Green Party […]
31st July 2018
The North-South divide in the UK is inescapable, not only in economic terms but also in areas such as culture, health, life expectancy and transport. New evidence suggests a nation already divided along geo-political and economic lines, may also be divided arboriculturally. A recent Sunday Times article revealed that ‘More than 110,000 trees have been chopped down in three years by councils across the UK — equivalent to a sixth of the size of Sherwood Forest … According to Defra, […]
22nd June 2018
Many companies in the environmental and planning sectors now offer ‘arboricultural services’. From large multi-national consultancies to smaller ecologists or landscape architect companies – there are an increasing number of slick websites offering ‘tree surveys for planning’. As these professions deal with the environment or ‘green stuff’, is there much difference? Is it worth seeking out a specialised arboricultural consultant or could some other environmental professional undertake a tree survey for planning and development purposes? Perhaps unsurprisingly, our view at […]
10th May 2018
Sheffield has a lot of trees. This fact makes Sheffield a great place to live and work. AWA Tree Consultants are based in the heart of Sheffield and all our arboriculturists live in or near the city. Sheffield’s various trees collectively form our urban forest. Components of the urban forest range from isolated individual trees, lines of trees alongside roads and wider groups of amenity trees’ in parks, to urban woodlands. The trees in Sheffield’s urban forest are owned and […]