Veteran Trees-LinkedIn Blog-LF

Is our profession haunted by our own remorseless logic?

This was the penetrating question posed by one of our arboriculturists during an internal exercise to explore and challenge assumptions about Ancient and (or) Veteran Trees.

We engage in these exercises regularly to test and establish team-wide standards for tree assessment, whether it be BS5837 categorisation, risk assessment or, in this case recognising ancient / veteran trees.

Tree consultants need to be able to advise if a tree is likely to be considered to be Ancient / Veteran and therefore Irreplaceable Habitat in accordance with NPPF and / or Habitat Regulations.

We should be able to recognise and highlight if a tree is likely to be considered to be Ancient / Veteran by the Council Tree Officer, the project Ecologist or local campaign groups.

And we need to have a clear view as to whether, and more importantly why, we consider a tree to be (or not be) Ancient / Veteran.

Some trees are obviously Ancient and / or Veteran and some trees are obviously not, however some trees are not so obvious and so a system of tests and counter tests is importance to come to an evidenced conclusion with levels of confidence weighted in one direction or another.

For the practitioner, it is essential to have a good understanding of tree aging processes and morphology and architecture.

Having knowledgeable and experienced colleagues around you to test your conclusions with is incredibly valuable.

The results matter.

Our team of 7 veteran tree experts, and consultants with planning expertise and tree stability expertise, engage with these questions every day, at policy and guidance level and in the practice of providing expert tree advice.