When we protect a tree, what are we really protecting? In this episode, I'm joined by Jess Stuart-Smith, Associate Ecologist at Ecology by Design, where she leads the Cotswold team. Jess specialises in bats and birds, works with developers, landowners and estate managers, and in her spare time is a bird ringing trainer, a passion that recently took her to Arctic Norway.

We explore why the biggest, healthiest looking tree isn't always the most valuable one, and how cracks, cavities, loose bark and deadwood can provide vital homes for bats, birds and rare invertebrates. Jess explains why hedgerows matter just as much as the trees they connect, why one mature tree can't simply be replaced by planting ten saplings, and why finding protected species on a site doesn't automatically mean nothing can be done.

We also talk about what arboriculturists and ecologists could learn from each other, the difference that early collaboration makes on any project, and why it might be time to leave those fallen apples on the ground.

In this episode:

• What bird ringing is, and why it's one of the world's biggest citizen science projects
• How bats use the smallest gaps in trees
• Why hedgerows are the "corridors" of the landscape
• Deadwood, tidy habitats and the case for leaving things a little wild
• Protected species, licensing and the mitigation hierarchy
• Why ecologists and arboriculturists should talk sooner
• Jess's (slightly controversial) favourite tree

If you work with trees, land or development, this conversation will change the way you look at the trees around you.

🎙️ Enjoying the podcast?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can leave me a voice message at www.speakpipe.com/treelaw – your questions or reflections might even feature in a future episode.

🎧 Huge thanks to Mike at Making Digital Real for producing and editing this episode to such a high standard.

In this episode, Sarah is joined by journalist Alex Wigglesworth to unpick the bizarre, unsolved case of tree poisonings in Incline Village, Lake Tahoe.

Since 2022, 28 trees have been deliberately poisoned, diesel fuel poured around the base and copper sulphate drilled into the roots, in what many suspect is an attempt to clear lake views and boost property values.

With around $300,000 of damage, a $147,000 reward on offer and still no suspects identified, this is a genuine real life whodunnit.

Sarah and Alex compare the case to UK tree law and the Sycamore Gap prosecution, and explore why trees matter for far more than the view they might be blocking.

🎙️ Enjoying the podcast?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can leave me a voice message at www.speakpipe.com/treelaw – your questions or reflections might even feature in a future episode.

🎧 Huge thanks to Mike at Making Digital Real for producing and editing this episode to such a high standard.

Why are so many newly planted trees in the UK failing to survive, and are we doing enough to help our existing trees cope with a changing climate?

In this episode of Trees in a Pod, I’m joined by arboricultural consultant Neil Davies for a wide-ranging conversation that begins with water and tree establishment, but takes us into some much bigger questions about the future of our trees.

Neil explains why planting a tree and successfully establishing a tree are two very different things. We discuss watering, drought, increasingly hot summers, the pressures facing mature, ancient and veteran trees, and whether our approach to planting and development needs to change.

We also explore what happens when trees, people and property have to coexist, why replacing a mature tree with several young trees isn't necessarily an equivalent exchange, and the extraordinary complexity of the ecosystems that develop around established trees.

And, from a Tree Law perspective, we finish with a fascinating question: could we eventually reach a point where trees have legal rights of their own?

A thought-provoking conversation about how we value trees, how we care for them, and what their future might look like in a changing climate.

🎙️ Enjoying the podcast?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can leave me a voice message at www.speakpipe.com/treelaw – your questions or reflections might even feature in a future episode.

🎧 Huge thanks to Mike at Making Digital Real for producing and editing this episode to such a high standard.