Future Trees Trust is delighted to be awarded funding through the Forestry Commission’s Seed Sourcing Grant (SSG) for multiple projects.
The SSG launched in September 2022 and provides funding to create or identify new Seed Stands and Seed Orchards and make existing Stands as productive as possible for seed collectors in the long term.
Tree seed is a key, but often overlooked part of tree production. With the government’s ambitious tree planting commitments, and the introduction of legally binding targets to increase tree and woodland cover in England to 16.5% by 2050, demand for trees and therefore tree seed is more important than ever. That’s why the Forestry Commission launched the Seed Sourcing Grant (SSG), to enhance the quality, quantity, and diversity of tree seed sources in England.
See the Future Trees Trust projects funded by the SSG below:
Project 1: Source-identified seed stand, grafting pilot, plus tree identification
Create a Source-identified seed stand for blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) using seed from the Millennium Seed Bank. Carry out a grafting pilot on beech (Fagus sylvatica), hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) and field maple (Acer campestre) to address lack of grafting knowledge for these species. Identify beech and hornbeam plus trees across southern Britain (regions of provenance 30 and 40). Beech plus trees will then be grafted for a Qualified Clonal Seed Orchard to be planted after the funded project ends.
Project 2: A new Tested Seed Orchards for Sessile and Pedunculate Oak, the first of their kind in the UK.
In collaboration with the Earth Trust and the Sotterley Estate, Future Trees Trust through selective thinning, is converting a progeny trial at Earth Trust (Oxfordshire) into a Tested pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) Seed Orchard and a progeny trial at Sotterley Estate into a Tested sessile oak (Q. petraea) Seed Orchard. The trials were originally established in 2003 and growth and form data collected over 18 years which will be used to design the rogueing strategies (The process of removing unhealthy or poor growth trees).
Project 3: Improving Cherry Seed for UK Forestry
The project aims to improve the quality and quantity of cherry seed for the UK forestry industry. Future Trees Trust is trying to locate outstanding timber trees of wild cherry, particularly in the region of Provenance 30 (Cumbria, Wales and the south west). The Trust is calling on landowners and managers to get in touch if they find a wild cherry that qualifies as a Plus Tree; with good form and vigour for timber purposes and showing tolerance to pests and diseases.
