Scotland's tree heritage to be safeguarded

16:38 21st October 2011

Greenhouse enthusiasts might be interested to hear that the future of Scotland's rich abundance of plant and tree wildlife is to be safeguarded with a series of collections across the country that will culminate in a national arboretum.

Overseen by the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh and the Forestry Commission Scotland will collect specimens from across the country to make a gene bank of the nation's woodland.

The idea behind it is for the arboretum to act as a buffer against the effects of climate change and habitat loss throughout the British Isles.

Syd House of the Forestry Commission Scotland said: "We've inherited many of these collections from far-sighted individuals or institutions, and what we're doing now is handing them on to the next generation in good condition."

In August, Kew Gardens announced plans to help restore the UK's wild flower meadows by taking rare specimens and producing millions of seeds to hand over to horticultural companies. The scheme is called UK native seed hub.