Just three days after I published ‘Lament for the Ash’ I came across an interesting article on the RTÉ web site. Not only does the article cover the same sad story that I told in the podcast but it explored some recently established projects with information about how people arounf the country could offer help. It eplained the AshForFuture project, a Teagasc led ash-breeding program to develop disease-tolerant genotypes.
However, the article also included another suggestion which I hadn’t included in the podcast. This is the ‘Report a Healthy Ash Tree’ initiative. Teagasc says…
Gathering plant material from across Ireland requires substantial resources. Your involvement makes the process more cost-effective, allowing us to accelerate the selection process for resilient ash trees.
Reporting healthy ash trees is easy and accessible to everyone. You don’t need specialised knowledge – all you need is your observation skills and a willingness to help.
RTÉ :15/01/25
A new project is taking a citizen science approach to preserving our beloved native ash trees
So, read the full RTÉ article and, if you live in Ireland, see if you can join in with the Report a Healthy Tree initiative I will certainly be searching out aand recording any Class 1 ash trees in my woodland this year.