A project to preserve Britian’s rarest and most endangered trees – the black poplar – is under way.
A nationwide investigation revealed just a handful of black poplar sites left in the UK – but most of the remaining trees are male.
Now Forestry Commission officers in Wales have embarked on ‘Operation Black Poplar’.
Draft species action plans have been prepared and, with the aid of tree cuttings, it is hoped newly-discovered female black poplars will be able to breed with their male counterparts to create the next generation.
North Wales Forestry Commission woodland officer Les Starling said: “At the beginning of the last decade, just over 1,000 trees were thought to exist in the UK, making this our rarest native tree. As a result of surveys carried out by the Forestry Commission and local authority forest officers, we have found just over 200 in north-east Wales.”
Anyone with information on black poplars is asked to contact the Forestry Commission on 01824 750492.
