The fight to protect trees in North Lanarkshire from Ash Dieback disease continues, as highlighted in a recent report.
The annual update, which was approved by the council’s environment and climate change committee at a recent meeting, noted that work in the southern part of Cumbernauld has been especially challenging due to issues with a contractor and parked cars blocking access for the necessary machinery.
However inspections of medium and high risk zones are on schedule, providing a clear understanding of the health of trees and necessary actions.
Works in five council areas have been completed and more is planned over winter which will see a total of 876 affected trees removed, with another 1300 diseased trees having been felled since the council introduced its strategy in 2022.
In order to preserve overall tree coverage, one or three trees is planted to replace each which is felled, although not always at the same location.
Over the last year, the council has also been carrying out roadside surveys that found that ash trees are common alongside A and B roads, with more than 9,000 identified of which almost 2,500 have been recommended for removals.
In the longer term the council will also have to take action to protect its nature reserves and woodlands to prevent them from becoming unusable due to fallen timber. It is working with Scottish Forestry to develop the best strategy for this.
Scottish Forestry has also been contributing significantly to the overall management of North Lanarkshire woodlands including its Woodlands In and Around Towns initiative, where works have been carried out to benefit 83 hectares of woods over the last decade.
However, ongoing issues with funding have resulted in problems with invasive species, pests and diseases at some locations and young woodlands will require maintenance actions within the next decade.
Plans to deal with this are covered in a new framework document, which was also approved by councillors during the same meeting. The first phase of this work will be comprehensive audits of woodland, and the council is seeking money from the Future Woodlands Scotland Urban Forestry Fund to support this.
Once the audits are completed, the intention is to launch a ten-year programme of works which will also support the Clyde Climate Forest initiative to plant 18 million trees by 2030.
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