A BIODIVERSITY project is moving forward to secure the future of a rare tree in Denbighshire.
Work is underway at Denbighshire County Council’s tree nursery to protect and improve the future of the black poplar to help support the local biodiversity.
As world governments discuss improving global biodiversity at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) at Montreal, Canada, work is moving forward to help Denbighshire’s environment at a local level.
The council declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019 and committed to seeking to become a Net Carbon Zero and more Ecologically Positive Council by 2030.
Black poplars are very rare in Denbighshire, native to the ecology of the county’s riverbanks and floodplains.
The trees can be found scattered along the Vale of Clwyd, and can be recognised from their dark bark, leaning trunks and downward curved branches.
Mature trees grow to 30 metres and can live for 200 years.
They are dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are found on separate trees.
To boost the population in the county, the council’s biodiversity team has brought to the tree nursery a number of male and female trees which were cloned using cuttings from an original surviving tree.
The team is looking to plant these at the tree nursery, and use them as a source of cuttings to grow more black poplars and increase the population within Denbighshire.
The team will also collect cuttings from other known trees in the county.
Denbighshire County Council ecology officer Joel Walley explained: “Black poplars are one of Britain’s rarest trees, with only 7,000 left growing in the wild.
"Most of these remaining trees are male, meaning that the population is shrinking, as there are no viable seeds to grow new trees to replace any which die in the wild.
“We have a selection of male and female clones at the tree nursery.
"The idea is that we plant them at the nursery, protect and grow them here and then we will take cuttings of them and then we can use them to plant out elsewhere in the county.
"Each cutting we take is an exact clone of the tree it came from, but we hope that in time, we will have enough male and female trees for pollination and seeding to occur, increasing the genetic diversity of the trees, and helping to secure their future.”
READ MORE: Denbighshire volunteers thanked for biodiversity support
Cllr Barry Mellor, Denbighshire lead member for environment and transport, said: “I am very proud of our biodiversity team for breathing life into this project to boost black poplar species in the county.
"It is scarce right across the UK and the team’s efforts will give the tree a chance to thrive once more in Denbighshire.”
Anyone who would like to volunteer to help at the tree nursery can get in touch via biodiversity@denbighshire.gov.uk
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