lecture 1: cumbria's top 50 trees project - the 360 degree toolkit tree recording method - iris...

The 360o toolkit tree recording method

Iris Glimmerveen

Project Coordinator

1

Introduction

• Tree recording

• What is Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees

• Tree recording: why, what & how?

• 360o toolkit

• Questions and feedback

2

Ian Jack – Forester

www.cumbriastop50trees.org.uk

Tree recording:

• Only when the purpose of the tree

recording is clear, can you determine what

needs to be recorded and how you’re going

to do it.

• So (project) background is needed before I

can get to the why, what and how

3

Joanne Hunter – Manager Ginger Bread Shop

Annie O’Shea Pensioner

Annie’s Barrow Plane

4

A childhood trip to the dentist provided

the inspiration for one pensioner’s tree

nomination in the heart of Barrow.

What is Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees?

• A project raising

awareness of individual

trees

• Local to Cumbria, a county

in North West England

• A brain child of Ted Wilson

and myself

5

6Rowan – Calbeck Common

Oak – Blencathra Hawthorn– Little Asby

Scots pine – Derwent Water

Cumbria

Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees concepts

• Focus on individual trees because:

• they fall in between the stools of woodland and

agriculture

• are the ones people come across most often –

street, garden, park trees

• Linking people with trees because then trees:

• become ‘personal’ – close to home

• will be ‘valued’ – less vandalism

• will be ‘seen’ – not taken for granted

7

Duncan Darbishire – Photographer


• Using competition format (Top 50 trees)

because it is easier to:

• enthuse the general public

• get message across to local media

8

Marilyn Leech – Graphic Designer


• Asking people to nominate their favouritetree because it gives a:• wider geographic and community spread

• sense of how trees are currently valued

• potentially greater variety of trees highlighted

• Making use of volunteers because then:• forestry skills can be passed on

• it provides an opportunity for people to be active outdoors with a purpose

9

Jimmy Beveridge – Farm Worker

Iris Glimmerveen

Project Coordinator

Miranda Morgan

Volunteer Manager

Alan Air

Public Relations

Manager

Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees team

10

Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees time line

1 January 2016 – project start

21 March 2016 – project launch

• 28 February 2017 – nominations close

• 1 March 2017 – Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees exhibition

tours 6 districts for 14 days each

• 31 May 2017 – voting closes

• 15 June 2017 – project booklet and map produced

• 30 June 2017 – award ceremony & project close

11

Kath Peters – Cinematographer

Christopher Pilling Poet

The sessile oak

12

Two’s company, three’s a love poem…

Tree recording: why?

• The purpose for tree recording with

Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees is to:

• record trees that are important to people

(snapshot in time)

• highlight the importance of individual trees

to those that look after them and their

funders

13

Gillian Kartach – Parish Clerk

Tree recording: what?

• Data that is useful for Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees

• characteristics so that the tree can be recognised: Species, photo – Core

• tree context: Surroundings – Social

• why the tree is important to the nominator: (local) name, photos, story – Cultural

• why the tree is important to the audience: District, history, story – Cultural

• can the audience find it: Grid ref, Access –Cultural

14

Jonathan Kaye – Hotel Owner Restaurateur


• Data that is useful for Cumbria’s Top 50

Trees output

• Species, size, age, wildlife signs, plant life, trunk

health, tree & nominator photos, story, access,

location – website & booklet

• Species, tree photo, grid ref, access, location –

free leaflet with A3 size map to be distributed by

libraries and tourist information centers

15

Louise Whitehouse – Personal Fitness Trainer


• Data that is useful/meaningful for the end user (tree officers, archivists of local councils and state forestry service)

• compatible with their tree databases: species, girth & height – Core

• tree condition: trunk, dead wood, leaf canopy -Biology

• tree biodiversity: age, wildlife, shape, plant life -Ecology

• easy to find: grid ref, access – Cultural

16

Tom Speight – Journalist

Tree recording: how?

• record within budget

• using contractors is easy, but has predictable

outcomes

• using nominators & volunteers may notionally be

cheaper, but outcomes are not predictable

• volunteers are not professionals, they’ll need

training, patience and a realistic notion of what

they can achieve

17

Heather James – Marketing Manager


• Make sure your data is:

• within the capacity for the type of volunteer you

employ – interview, train and check for consistency

• logical/clear – group data, use plain English

• easy for the recorder – saves time in the field

• easy to transfer – website looks similar to

recording sheet, allowing computer to create a

‘comma separated value’ database

• tested – by both volunteer and end user

18

Henk Glimmerveen – Aviation Consultant


• Two equally important elements to

Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees survey:

• Record tree data

• Record why the nominator likes his/her tree, in

short: the story

• Both are captured in the 360o toolkit

• it encourages the volunteer/surveyor to look

both at the tree and its setting

19

Jane Porter – Pensioner

Suzanne McNally Photographer

Suzanne’s Surreal Sycamore

20

Suzanne first noticed this ethereal looking tree - at one end of a frankly somewhat rough looking

plantation - three years ago. She gradually fell for it. On her way to the station, or just on a walk around with her camera, she would look at its odd shape

and smile inwardly. Being a photographer she started taking pictures of this odd but surreal looking Acer family tree; the results are stunning...come see!

360o toolkit consists of:

• tools, supplied by project:• 10m measuring tape – girth

• wooden stick, equal to volunteer’s arm length –height

• microphone & wind muffler – story

• jumper, weather writer, pencil, data recording sheets, folder, mileage & out of pocket expenses – volunteer comfort

• training: tree measuring & identification, interview techniques – volunteer confidence and consistent data

21

Robin Smalley – National Trust Volunteer

360o toolkit consists of:

• mobile phone, supplied by volunteer:

• geographic positioning system app – location

• winter & tree identification apps – species

• camera – photos

• voice memo/recorder – story

22

Patricia Ross – School Teacher

360o data sheet – basic elements

23

Richard Temperley Little – Writer

Dave Camlin Musician

Borrowdale Yews

24

A tree associated with death that is actually one of the longest living plants on Earth offers a spiritual experience for a West

Cumbrian musician.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ix_I2WZ2Q

360o toolkit datasheet – detail

25

Wendy Meredith – Head Teacher


26

Patrick Everingham – Pensioner


27

Maureen Foster –


28

Martin Clark – Director


29

Mildred Gavican – Teaching Assistant

Mencap Carlisle Grace Little'scrab apple

30

A splendid crab apple tree, that has

witnessed the comings and goings of

aircraft during war and peacetime, was

bursting with fruit when we visited on a

glorious late summer afternoon.

32

Laura Wilson – Estate Owner/farmer

Results so far

• website up and running

• 18 volunteers

• 89 nominations of which 28 are visible on

the website

• promotion postcard – 1,000 print run

33

Peter Frost Pennington – Castle Manager

Anticipated results and outputs

• Reached out to all of Cumbria Community• through 20 talks in libraries and hard to reach groups

• media promotion traditional & social

• 100 nominations minimum on website

• Roaming exhibition held in 6 districts with:• 50 tree images & accompanying stories (A2)

• 10 stories (audio format with close up image of nominator)

• 1 project video (already shot)

• Booklet (80 page) – 2,000 print run distributed to tree carers, participants and interested parties

• Tourist trail map (A3) – 2,000 print run distributed to libraries and tourist information centers

• Inventory of ±100 individual trees created and distributed

35

Sheila Gregory – Chief Executive

Sue Bond Pensioner

The Courageous Tree

36

One tree's astonishing act of survival

against all the odds is a source of

inspiration for one woman who has loved

it for 20 years....

Any questions??

Thank you

37

38

Veteran tree site assessment protocol applied @ Geltsdale, Cumbria

Field Measure Possible thresholds High value Medium value Low value Primary assessment criteria

No. of veteran trees >100 10-100 No. ancient trees >15 <15 0 No. trees >1.5m dbh >15 5-15 <5 Secondary assessment criteria

Extent of site >50ha 11-50ha 10ha or less Tree cohort continuity (assessed by tree size)

At least 1 cohort per 100 yrs similar spp and distribution to veterans

Future generations present but gaps in cohorts/new generations do not reflect spp/ distribution of veterans

Large gaps in cohorts/veteran trees only

Visible deadwood (standing and fallen & incl. rot holes, hollow trunks etc)

Abundant Present but evidence of removal

Little present

Ground vegetation Unimproved grassland/semi-natural woodland

Semi-improved or significantly disturbed

Arable, improved or suppressed (bare)

Veteran trees near-by (sites and trees in the landscape)

Adjacent Within 1km >1km away

Diversity within veteran tree population (species, form, age, situation)

Diversity in at least three characteristics (species, age, form and situation)

Diversity in two characteristics or significant diversity in 1 characteristic

Little diversity

Associated species interest (eg lichens, saproxylic invertebrates)

Known to be high Some interest known

Documented habitat continuity – historical continuity

Documentary evidence of habitat continuity (several centuries)

Potential Interest likely to increase in short- to medium-term

Interest likely to increase moderately in short- to medium-term

Interest likely to decline in short- to medium term

Other field measures

Density of veteran trees (over site) 7/ha Species composition of veterans alder, rowan, birch, ash Scrub (incl. bramble and hawthorn) hazel, hawthorn, apple, holly

Site management/threats year round low intensive cattle grazing Water-bodies/wetland habitat wet ground conditions Shape rectangular Surrounding landuse hill sheep farming

Local pollution load low

Geltsdale,

important for

old trees

Alan Air

PR Manager

Squishy sequoia

39

A giant sequoia in Carlisle’s magnificent Victorian cemetery on Dalston Road

played a key role in Alan Air’s childhood.

lecture 1: cumbria's top 50 trees project - the 360 degree toolkit tree recording method - iris...

Environment