UK: Rob Richards surveying every tree in Torfaen forpossible removal and replacement

Arboricultural officer Rob Richards, 49, is recording details such as
the species, size and age of every tree on land owned by Torfaen
council. Mr Richards said many dying and diseased trees had been
removed but the survey would help the council obtain funding to
replant them. He said horse chestnut trees, which provide conkers,
were particularly under attack from a disease that had left many of
them in a poor state.

With possibly tens of thousands of trees, he
will walk about 400 miles and is unlikely to finish before spring. The
survey will also help the council identify which trees need to be
removed for safety reasons. “Something we continually get asked is how
many trees are on council land and basically we just don’t know,” said
Mr Richards, who is using a handheld computer to record the
information. “That’s one of the reasons we’re doing it but we’re also
trying to find out about the tree stock, how long it will last and how
viable it is.” He is also mapping trees on the council’s former
housing estates, now the responsibility of Bron Afon Community
Housing. “At this present moment in time I’ve done 3,400 and I haven’t
started on any woodland areas or parks or cemeteries,” he said. He has
also discovered that the most common species in the north of the
borough is beech, while south of Pontypool oak appears to dominate.
“It’s quite a painstaking and often a wet and cold task but it’s
interesting to find out the most common trees and see what condition
they’re in,” he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/7783639.stm

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