Tree of the Month - January
One of the most remarkable trees to have been found during 2023 for our partnership project with the Woodland Trust, the Ancient Tree Inventory, is this ancient Juniper (Juniperus communis), a new champion tree which was found in September 2023 in Barrisdale Forest by Jane Sayers. Jane is the Wild Pine Project Officer for Trees for Life, a charity working to rewild parts of the Scottish Highlands by increasing tree-cover and reintroducing locally extinct key animals. The Juniper is the most impressive single-boled example to be found in Britain to date, and the wooded hillside where it has stood for centuries must be one of the most remote places in Scotland - 13km from the nearest good road across rugged and largely pathless mountains.
Owen Johnson MBE VMM
(Photo: Jane Sayers)