April Armstrong

April Armstrong
National Manager for Scotland
Confederation of Forest Industries

Projects

Project Lead: Mariella Marzano
The UK and Scotland have ambitious tree planting targets, with a major driver being carbon sequestration. Scotland’s Forest Strategy outlines a target of 15,000 ha per year. In addition to carbon management, other major drivers for tree planting are commercial forestry, habitat restoration and the establishment of new woodlands for biodiversity and amenity value. Scotland’s Forest Strategy outlines a target of 3,000-5,000 ha of new native woodland per year, and restoration of an additional 10,000 ha of native woodland. This involves planting a large volume of trees. There is considerable uncertainty as to where and how this volume of trees will be sourced, and associated uncertainty as to the biosecurity threats posed. The aim of this project is to improve our understanding of current biosecurity awareness and practices within the arenas of woodland creation/ expansion and habitat restoration in Scotland.

Impact: Determine the main barriers to ensuring that future planting for environmental restoration and conservation will minimise plant health risks.
Project Lead: Mariella Marzano
Large scale infra-structure projects such as transport networks and major housing projects typically include extensive landscaping and planting programmes. These operate at a large scale, often require instant visual impacts (semi-mature shrubs and trees) and face significant cost pressures. The modest scale of domestic production creates challenges in obtaining material from local sources, which can favour low-cost large-scale plant imports with associated risks of pest and disease entry. This project will fill in key knowledge gaps with those responsible for selecting, procuring and planting plants and trees on a large-scale to provide an understanding of how/whether biosecurity features in their decision-making and make recommendations for any changes required to improve bio-secure practices.

Impact: Provide Scottish Government policy with an assessment of the major biosecurity pitfalls and opportunities arising from large-scale landscaping plantings.
Project Lead: April Armstrong
The oomycete Phytophthora ramorum has caused substantial losses of Scottish forests in recent years due to widespread mortality of European larch trees (Larix decidua). Infected trees are subject to statutory felling notices in an effort to reduce sporulation potential. Nevertheless, there are concerns about the multiple pathways by which spores might be transferred to new sites. There have been assessments of soil moved by mountain biking and walking/running resulting in evidence to support the Forestry Commission’s Keep-it-Clean campaign. This study will assess soil/plant material collected from commercial harvesting equipment (tyres, treads, mud guards etc.). PHC support will enable a wider range of diagnostic tests to be carried out, testing the robustness of the methods and examining the potential for multiple Phytophthora species to be transferred.

Impact: Add to the evidence base underpinning public and sector-facing biosecurity campaigns and improve disease management and restrict spread of the disease.

Publications

Forestry, Environment | Final Report and Policy Document

Assessing spread of Phytophthoras in Scottish forests by recreational and harvesting activities using comparative qPCR and metabarcoding techniques

February 2024

Pathogens from the genus Phytophthora pose some of the greatest threats to tree health and are likely to become increasingly prevalent in the UK as the climate becomes warmer and wetter. This project added new data based on a DNA metabarcoding approach to determine the Phytophthora species diversity in soil samples and sampled material from timber harvesting operations alongside those of recreational activities.