Ash dieback is spreading rapidly at Highgate Cemetery. It is a devastating disease that threatens trees and woodlands throughout the country. It's pretty traumatic for us but Google 'ash dieback' and you'll see we are not alone.
Ash dieback is caused by a fungus called Hymenoscyphus fraxineus which originated in Asia and spread to Europe via the global plant trade. With its windborne spores the fungus spreads quickly, causing the crown of the tree to die back, often resulting in the death of the tree.
Ash dieback may be driven in part by the climate crisis: mild, wet winters create ideal conditions for disease and pests to spread and prolonged drought, flooding and high temperatures also mean that trees are likely to be stressed and more vulnerable to disease. As many of our trees are self-set and poorly-rooted, they are even more vulnerable.
We could lose up to four out of five ash trees. This will have a devastating impact on the appearance of the cemetery landscape and on wildlife. There a number of species that depend entirely on ash trees.
We realise that seeing trees being removed is difficult and as a team we find it hard too. The removal of ash trees is an unwelcome, but necessary job as we need to ensure people and monuments are safe. It's also very tricky to do in a cemetery, and so hugely expensive -- trees have to be dismantled rather than felled. You can be sure we wouldn't do it if we didn't have to!
As part of our landscape masterplan, we'll be planting more climate-resilient trees from a diverse range of species. We're working with landscape architects, ecologists and horticulturists to work out which new trees should go where, and we're in close touch with experts from the local authority and Historic England to make sure we get this right.
Find out more about ash dieback from Forest Research, the research agency of the Forestry Commission and Britain’s principal organisation for forestry and tree-related research.
These plans show how ash dieback is taking its toll at HIghgate Cemetery, getting much worse over the course of just two years. The percentages are the number of trees infected in each compartment, while the colours show the degree of infection, where the lightest colour represents no signs of ash dieback, and the darkest meaning trees close to death.
You can read our Ash dieback management plan.