Shocked: Devon village shocked after 100 ancient beech trees felled

Not much is happening in the sleepy village of Coraton Raleigh, where almost half the residents are retired. So local walkers were shocked when they woke up one morning to find an act of environmental vandalism that had left behind the stumps of 100 ancient beech trees.

Residents of an East Devon community are devastated at the loss of beloved trees, which are located in a special conservation area and site of special scientific interest and are home to many local plants and animals, and were removed by the government without consulting government agencies. Institutional felling. community or council.

The local landowner made the application to the Forestry Commission, part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It would not comment on individual cases but said all decisions were made in accordance with its standards.

Alan Pearce, the area’s tree warden, said: “This certainly should have been a fairly extensive consultation as it is part of our heritage with growing hedgerows dating back hundreds of years. Once they are gone, approx. It will take 200 years to regrow. The stumps look almost all intact and sturdy. I don’t see how they can be said to be sick or dying. The goal is to plant trees, not cut them down.

He said people were absolutely shocked, with one walker in tears at the decision, which he believed might have been made to improve pasture on neighboring fields.

Another resident, Fiona Carroll, said: “A lot of people walk in this area because it’s part of a large piece of moorland and they don’t know why this is allowed to happen.” In my opinion , these are valuable landscape and wildlife trees along the vast ancient Devon riverbanks. The roots have grown into a massive support structure, giving many of their unique looks. My current impression is that this destruction amounts to nothing more than environmental destruction.

Ewan Macdonald, who studies how people interact with the environment at the University of Oxford, said he was not surprised that felling triggered such an emotional response because of the way people connect with trees.

He said it highlighted how things like trees, the environment and conservation are intrinsically linked to our culture. The value of trees increases as they age, so I understand why removing them would be unsettling. It’s natural for people to become attached to things that they can personify or have a relationship with.

He added: “I do think it’s always important to involve local communities in any decision about conservation. That’s not to say that the Forestry Commission doesn’t have good reasons for felling trees, but communicating those reasons to people and ensuring communities feel engaged and engaged is an important thing. This shows how difficult it is for anyone to own nature wholeheartedly.

The beech felling is not the first incident to spark outrage. More recently, the felling of 40 palm trees in Torquay, Devon, featured in the 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers, sparked accusations that the council was causing complete damage to the seafront.

Previously, 110 trees were removed in Plymouth under cover of darkness in March 2023 as part of a landscaping overhaul of the city’s Armada Way, which ultimately led to the resignation of the Conservative leader of Parliament.

In 2016, five people were arrested following a heated row with the council over the felling of trees in an affluent suburb of Sheffield. Nick Clegg, then the ward councilor, said the incident would only have happened in Putin’s Russia, not a suburb of Sheffield.