Aerial photos reveal neglected UK orchards

More than 35,000 traditional orchards have been identified across England using aerial photographs – but almost half are in a poor condition, experts warn.

The five-year project to map traditional orchards, which are home to at least 1,800 wildlife species but are in decline, aimed to record the location, age and condition of the habitats and provide a baseline for future work to protect them.

Conservationists from the People’s Trust for Endangered Species scoured the countryside looking for orchards, which can be spotted on aerial photographs because of the planting patterns which sees trees growing in evenly spaced lines.

The first ever survey from the air identified 35,378 traditional orchards across 51 counties, making up almost 40,000 acres of habitat.

A fifth of the orchards were surveyed by volunteers, to record species, age and condition of the fruit trees.

The study revealed less than one in 10 (nine per cent) were in top condition, while 46 per cent were in a good state and 45 per cent were in a poor condition.

Traditional orchards tend to have a low density of trees, set in semi-natural vegetation and are cultivated without pesticides and using animals for grazing instead of mowing around the trees.

They are also home to hundreds of varieties of fruit such as apples and pears, including Peasgood’s Nonsuch, Sheep’s Snout, Bastard Rough Coat and Slack my Girdle which are all types of traditional apples.

But conservation experts warn the habitat is dwindling as people increasingly turn to buying cheap imported fruit throughout the year.

The PTES said traditional orchards were increasingly at risk from neglect, intensification of agriculture and pressure from land development.

Anita Burrough, orchard officer for the trust who led the project, said: “The mosaic of habitats that comprise a traditional orchard provide food and shelter for at least 1,800 species of wildlife, including the rare noble chafer beetle which relies on the decaying wood of old fruit trees.

“With this loss of habitat, we also face losing rare English fruit varieties, traditions, customs and knowledge, in addition to the genetic diversity represented by the hundreds of species that are associated with traditional orchards.”

But the survey has helped pinpoint where traditional orchards still remain.

The inventory can also be used to set and monitor targets to protect the habitat, restore traditional orchards to top condition, work with owners to provide advice and inform local planning policies and development, the PTES said.

Peter Brotherton, head of biodiversity for government conservation agency Natural England which helped fund the study, said: “Traditional orchards can be biodiversity hot spots, but without proper protection and sensitive management, they can easily slip into decline.

“Up until now, many of these biodiversity gold mines were quietly deteriorating in forgotten corners of the countryside, becoming overgrown or being lost altogether.

“This research has enabled us to pin point their precise location, allowing conservationists to work with local communities and landowners to keep these special sites buzzing with wildlife.”

Ms Burrough said there had been a dramatic decline in orchards in England, with more than 60 per cent lost since the 1950s, but until the survey was conducted it was not clear how much of the country’s traditional orchards had gone.

The data would help promote “landscape-scale” restoration of habitat by producing an overall picture of where orchards were found and where they could be restored and linked up to help wildlife move around the countryside.

By providing information on traditional orchards, the trust also hopes to help target environmental stewardship schemes towards protecting the habitat, as well as make planners and developers consider orchards in their area.