In 2024 we were braving the snow and freezing temperatures at Cabilla, Bodmin Moor planting hundreds of saplings with the aim of extending the ancient temperate woodland already there.
Today we were repairing the damage caused by Storm Goretti ☹
Surprisingly, in the most part, although now lying down, the young trees seem to have fared relatively well. The stakes supporting them, however, not so well, and our job was to get the trees upright again and replace the snapped stakes.
Before we started, Carl and Rai from Plant 1 shared with us their concerns that in the wake of Storm Goretti, many homeowners and developers ‘knee jerk’ reaction will be to cut down trees near their homes / properties. This is understand, however, this reaction can be counterproductive. When trees are removed from the landscape, there is nothing to break / disrupt the wind power. They explained that the reason why we had so much damage with Storm Goretti is likely because of the direction the wind came from, and I have taken the below statement from Plant 1’s social media to explain this further:
Wind Direction and why that’s important.
Trees are efficient organisms, they optimise for efficiency of resources, In Cornwall Our prevailing wind is from the west and most storm gusts and everyday winds come from the southwest to west. Our trees have spent centuries strengthening themselves against this. This storm blasted from the north northwest, our trees never stood a chance. They fell like discarded matches, fractured and splintered, roots stretching skyward. It’s extremely rare for storms to come from that direction and with such ferocious force. Our woodlands and trees were simply not adapted for it.
Plant 1 advised that if you have a tree that is worrying you, an aborist will be able to advise on the best course of action and help you keep the tree in the best possible condition to survive these more frequent weather events.
Another reason to keep those trees, is the life they support. For example, an oak tree can have up to 2,300 different species on it, if you lose one oak tree from someones garden, that is whole ecosystem just gone.
On a more positive note, Carl explained that in our woodland settings, this hasn’t been that much of a bad thing. Young saplings will be reaching for the light created by the fallen trees and these fallen trees have created a lovely amount of disturbance; big root plates have been lifted up, and that’s going to create little wet areas, and all the fallen branches and trees will create lovely dead wood for habitat, and nooks and crannies for wildlife.
Storm Goretti has depleted our stock of trees and these continued weather events will deplete us further. For more information about the work Plant 1 Cornwall do or if you would like to support them, please visit their website https://plantonecornwall.com/.
