Welcome to the LTOA website. The London Tree Officers Association (LTOA) constitutes the professional & technical voice for London's trees & woodlands. Its aim is to enhance the management of the Capital's trees. We hope that you find the LTOA website both interesting & informative. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The LTOA has revised it's constitution and has recently emailed it out to full LTOA members for consultation. The document which sets out the aims and objectives of our organisation and which defines what we do and how we do it.

This is the start of a 28 day consultation period during which time we are inviting you to let us know what you think, and whether you feel that there are any amendments to be made. We appreciate that it is a long document, but it would be great if you could take the time to have a read. Any comments should be sent directly to me; we will then evaluate the feedback at the end of the consultation and make changes as necessary before sending you the finished document, at which point we will be asking all full Members to vote whether or not to adopt it.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please ensure that any comments have been submitted by 30 June 2013 at the latest.

English local authorities own over 60,000 hectares of woodland, almost all of it publicly accessible: a great and valuable local resource. Woodland management is not a high priority in many areas, and budgets and staff are being cut.

Local authorities are keen to explore community management of woodlands but often don’t have the information or the time to support sustainable new management models.

Click here to read more

Location:The Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ Date:Wed, 05/06/2013 - 6:00pm - 9:00pm

An event kindly organised by the Trees in Design Action Group, and hosted by the UDG (preceded by the UDG AGM at 6pm – see below)

The Trees and Design Action Group was formed in early 2007 with a commitment to promoting and protecting urban trees for the many benefits that they bring. In challenging economic times it is often easy to dismiss elements such as trees (and green infrastructure) as ‘luxuries’ that we cannot afford. TDAG takes the view that trees are the urban realm’s greatest allies and, as such, we cannot afford to ignore them. This discussion looks at some of the critical issues relating to urban trees with an emphasis of the key role of the urban designer.

- Introduction and Chair - Paul Reynolds, Chair, Urban Design Group.

- Looking at the bigger picture and the importance of collaborative working

TDAG’s Trees in the Townscape, a guide for decision makers was published in June 2012 and has now been distributed to Council Leaders and CEOs throughout the UK. The group is now producing the corollary, Trees in Hard Landscapes

Martin Kelly, Director Land Planning, Capita Symonds and Chair Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG).

- Creating good practice

The London i-Tree project and the forthcoming BS 8545, Trees from Nursery to Independence in the Landscape.

Keith Sacre, Barcham Trees.

- Achieving good practice – practical lessons for management and maintenance

The ATCM has now been appointed by HM Government to support the 350+ Town Teams across England. 'Town Centre Greening' has been written in as part of the climate change adaptation aspect of the programme.

Toyubar Rahman, Association of Town & City Management.

Discussion

Preceded at 6pm by the UDG’s AGM – all are welcome to attend and welcome our new Executive Committee for 2013-14.

Defra made the following announcement on 9 May 2013. It is on line at www.gov.uk/government/news/new-project-launched-to-protect-oak-trees-from-harmful-caterpillar

Announcement of £1.5 million project to protect oak trees from destructive moth.

An extra £1.5 million has been allocated to protect oak trees from a destructive moth, Environment Minister Lord de Mauley announced today.

This extra money will fund a pilot project that has been designed to tackle the Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) by allowing plant health experts to treat oak trees in and around areas where the caterpillars are currently nesting.

At the moment only trees that have already been infected are treated, so it is hoped that this will prevent the caterpillars from spreading any further.

Lord de Mauley said:

"Tree health is a priority for us and this pest not only affects our trees but can also cause skin irritation in people and animals."

"The additional funding will allow us see if a wider programme of spraying is effective in destroying these pests."

The pilot project will examine the impact of wider spraying on the spread and control of OPM and will be monitored for its effectiveness. The pilot will also ensure trees with less visible signs of infestation are treated.

The results will be considered when developing future strategies in dealing with tree pests.

Sue Ireland, Chair of the London OPM Advisory Group said:

"We are delighted with this significant opportunity for more-focussed control of OPM. Our green spaces are precious, and landowners, local authorities, government and the public must grasp this opportunity and work together to protect them for the enjoyment of future generations, and to protect human and animal health."

OPM has been present in the UK since 2006 and is currently present only in the South, West and South-West of London and one site in West Berkshire. The caterpillars of the moth damage the trees by feeding on the leaves and the resulting leaflessness can leave the trees vulnerable to other pests and diseases.

The caterpillars make tennis ball sized nests in trees; if people spot these they should not attempt to remove the nests but report them to their local authority or the Forestry Commission.

Defra is continuing to tackle tree pests and diseases, including Chalara, and research is being undertaken to look at diseases present in Europe which are not present in the UK.

To tackle tree disease the Government has already:

• Commissioned a plant health task force that will look at further ways to prevent pests and diseases from entering the country in the future
• Allocated £8m for research into diseases that could affect our trees
• Planted 250,000 ash saplings to monitor for genetic resistance to Chalara and has commissioned research to investigate genetic resistance in a laboratory setting