Befriending a tree at the Astley Ainslie
In case you missed it, you can view Severin Carrell’s article in The Guardian about our tree befrienders: Edinburgh activists rally to protect Astley Ainslie’s green space, accompanied but Murdo MacLeod’s wonderful photos
Many of the trees in the Astley Ainslie have had Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) since 2000, but sadly this has not saved some of them from being cut down. Trees with a TPO have been specifically assessed and judged to be worthy of preserving because of their intrinsic beauty; contribution to the landscape; scarcity value and/or collective value. And whilst trees in a conservation area are automatically given some protection, they are not immune from potential tree work.
We would therefore like to encourage all our members to befriend a tree in the Astley Ainslie hospital grounds and to tell us something about why you have chosen that tree.
Click here to view some of the tree befriender stories
This will enable us to build a database of trees which have been befriended. The reasons for doing this are many and varied. Here are just some of them but we are sure you will be able to think of more:
Our hope is that a tree which has been befriended has more chance of surviving because the individual(s) who befriended will keep an eye on it and alert any or all of the people or groups listed above if they have any concerns. According to BS3998 (British Standard for Tree Work, 2010) felling and other work to trees should not take place during April- August so as not to disturb wildlife. The disturbance of a bird’s nest containing eggs or chicks is a criminal offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).
To raise our collective awareness, knowledge and appreciation of the many and varied trees on this site some of which are very rare indeed, some of which are very old and some of which are very old and very rare.
Befriending a tree helps us to reconnect with nature. We are all busy living our lives but life goes by very fast and it is so important to pause and take a breath every so often. We have been reminded of this so much during the pandemic.
Recent research by OVO Energy (2020) shows that a majority of British children cannot name five British trees and are unable to identify the distinctive leaves and berries of a holly bush. They are three times more likely to recognise the McDonald’s logo than an oak tree! This research also showed that 87% of parents surveyed said they noticed positive changes in their children’s mood after spending time around trees and green spaces.
These trees have been befriended so far:
And here’s a map of the befriended trees:
> Click on a tree icon to find out who each tree’s been befriended by
> Click on the top left corner to see a list of the trees
> Click on the top right corner to open a larger version of this map in a new tab
Ava’s Horse Chestnut - click to see some tree befriender stories
““Few are altogether deaf to the preaching of pine trees. Their sermons on the mountains go to our hearts; and if people in general could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish.””