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Conservation plea as orchards vanish - 24/04/09

More than 60% of traditional orchards have disappeared from the English landscape since the 1950s, conservationists have warned.

Development and conversion to other uses, along with pressure on small-scale producers from commercial fruit growing, mean the countryside is in danger of losing local fruit varieties and important habitats for rare species. The the noble chafer beetle and the lesser spotted woodpecker are especially at risk.

Traditional orchards are defined as having at least five fruit trees. They consist of varieties of fruit trees such as apples, pears, plums, damsons and cherries, and provide a vital source of pollen and nectar to bees, which are thought to be declining partly because of a lack of suitable food.

The National Trust's head of nature conservation, Dr David Bullock, called the situation alarming, adding: "We are in real danger of losing these unique habitats - and the wildlife, local fruit varieties and their rich heritage - and if we don't act in some cases we will not even know what local varieties of fruit have been lost."

About £536,000 is being made available by Natural England and the National Trust to reverse the decline of traditional orchards.

Traditional orchards a good habitat for wildlife because they are subject to low intensity management, with few or no chemicals used, and because of this they have been earmarked as a priority for conservation under the Government's biodiversity action plan.

     

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