A DAY of action by local volunteers last week (Tuesday, November 28) has seen the Wye Valley’s unique whitebeam population given a boost as part of National Tree Week.

The Wye Valley is a centre of diversity for whitebeam evolution, with internationally important populations of

the rare trees.

Doward Whitebeam, Ev-

ans’s Whitebeam, Green’s White­beam, Herefordshire Whitebeam, Ship Rock Whitebeam and Symonds Yat Whitebeam are the six species in the Wye Valley which occur nowhere else in the world.

Over the summer, staff from the Forestry Commission and the Tree Council, working with the Dean Green Team volunteer group, surveyed the rare whitebeam trees, one of which exists as only a single specimen, high up on the cliffs of the Wye Valley in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

The partnership ended with the day of action to protect the future of these rare trees.

“All of these species, put together, are rarer than the giant panda,” said project advisor Dr Tim Rich, a national expert on whitebeam trees.

“Some of the sites were so inaccessible that tree climbers had to assist. We felled non-native trees and scrub to give more light to the globally-important whitebeams, allowing them to flower and fruit.

“Network Rail staff also joined the group during the summer, to learn about rare whitebeams and improve their management of these trees in the Bristol Gorge.”

Kate Wollen from the Forestry Commission organised the work, and said: “Letting in more light to the whitebeams was heavy work but very worthwhile.

“We are so lucky to have such a great network of partners and volunteers who are willing to help and give these great rarities a chance to flower, seed, reproduce and produce our trees of the future’’