Big business has a critical role to play in saving our woodlands

The public outcry that swept the nation after the mindless destruction of the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree that had stood for 150 years in a dramatic dip of Hadrian's Wall showed just how much we care about our heritage trees. But are we doing enough to safeguard them?

- John Craven

After another controversial felling of the 450-year-old Whitewebbs oak in North London in April this year, there were calls for natural treasures like these to be given the same protection as listed buildings and monuments.

I'm not a tree-hugger but I do love to see them, identify them and walk amongst them. I was close to tears when a magnificent oak that I could admire from my garden crashed down in a storm. We can't really protect any tree from the forces of nature, but we can make special ones less vulnerable to the actions of humans and build their numbers to ensure the future security of our native woodlands.

Which leads me to two major, long-term projects. The first is a scheme to restore and expand the last fragments of the UK's temperate rainforests; the second an initiative to rescue ancient woodlands crowded out by conifers when modern plantations grew up around them.