Calls to establish a national register of iconic trees have gained support from several charities following the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland. Labour MP for Hexham Joe Morris introduced a bill on iconic trees and nature education, proposing a formal list of culturally significant trees and improved schooling about their ecological and historic value.
Morris said the register, which could feature well known specimens such as the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, would help young people better understand why certain trees hold national importance. The proposal comes after the Sycamore Gap tree, more than 100 years old and situated along Hadrian’s Wall, was felled in September 2023 by Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers. Both men, from Cumbria, received prison sentences of four years and three months.
Education charity Wilderness Foundation UK chief executive Jo Roberts supported the bill. She said: “That’s why we we’ve got to do more reverence now so that we don’t have another Sycamore Gap.” She described trees as the “cathedrals of nature” and argued that some deserved the same sense of awe typically reserved for landmark buildings. Roberts added that people often failed to appreciate trees until they disappeared and that giving certain trees official status could help the public recognise their significance.
Morris also suggested including the Ankerwycke yew near Wraysbury in Berkshire, which is associated with the signing of the Magna Carta. This reflected his argument that some trees are intertwined with national history and collective identity.
Support also came from education charity Wild Things. Its head, Luke Strachan, said the bill’s emphasis on strengthening how pupils learn about the value of trees was timely. “With the increasing prevalence of digital media and online culture, younger generations need, more than ever, to have opportunities to rebuild their relationship to the natural environment,” he said.
Learning Through Landscapes representative Hannah Engelkamp said the proposed iconic tree register could help teachers foster discussions about “local pride” and the “personality and validity of species that aren’t human”. She welcomed the measure but cautioned that ordinary trees should not be overlooked. Engelkamp noted that 17 per cent of primary schools in Scotland had fewer than five trees on their grounds, emphasising that the everyday trees children encounter can be just as important to their development.
She argued that nature should not become a distant concept available only to those with the opportunity to visit celebrated landscapes. Instead, she said, it should remain a daily presence within the learning and play experiences of every child.
The second reading of the bill is scheduled for 16 January.
