Join us, to discover more about how innovations in technology are being used in the science of tree health and find out how this project could be an opportunity to engage with science and research. Through your feedback, you will enable us to make a case for extending this project across the region. Tree health is an important issue, our trees are suffering. From ash dieback and oak acute decline, through to the impacts of droughts and storms - our trees need care.

We need to know more about the wellbeing of our trees to protect our treescapes for the future. Amazingly, trees can talk to us once we work out how to listen. To see what the trees are telling us, we’ve been piloting a project, in the district of Broadlands, Norfolk for the last 18 months.

This project - The Sentinel Treescapes partnership - has been developing a wireless sensor network, like automated ‘weather stations’ but for tree health. The sensors, known as Tree Talkers, send real-time data on tree growth, sap flow and trunk movement to the internet. This data can then be viewed for individual trees as well as groups of trees and woodlands on local, regional, or national scales.

*The Norfolk Sentinel Treescapes project is a partnership between Fera Science Ltd, The Tree Council, Newcastle University, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and the University of Strathclyde. The project is in collaboration with the Broadland Tree Warden Network, who are our valuable citizen scientists, and Norfolk County Council, who have granted permission for use of the sites. This is a Natural Environment Research Council, (NERC) funded project and is running from August 2020 to December 2022.

So far, the project has been supported by Broadland Tree Warden volunteers who have played a vital role in the collection of data through visual tree assessment, monitoring and maintaining the Tree Talker sensors.

We are hosting a free workshop, aiming to showcase this exciting project, and to explore the possibilities of developing the programme across East Anglia.

We would love to know more about how you think this technology could contribute to your organisation's treescape management, as well as the potential for supporting national curriculum learning, and how we could help you, to make such a project work on your estate or school grounds. If there is enough interest from across the region, this will enable us to develop a business case to seek the funding necessary to make this important project a reality.

We’re at the beginning of this adventure, and we invite you to join us. Are you interested in discovering more?

Programme Summary

You will be greeted at the main entrance, where you will have a opportunity to meet the project team, and learn more about the project. There will be an opportunity to visit the project site with walks leaving at 2.10pm, 2.40pm and 3pm. Please do wear suitable footwear and clothing for a walk into the woods, and appropriate for the weather on the day.

For more information please email Rachel Gaulton, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University at rachel.gaulton@newcastle.ac.uk or Sam Village, The Tree Council at sam.village@treecouncil.org.uk

We really do hope you can join us, as we need your help to make this a reality for all.

Tree Health Monitoring – protecting the future of our treescapes