We have collated lots of great news, resources and announcements that were shared throughout the sixth annual National Plant Health Week last month!
Milly Bell
Intern diary: Jessica on restarting the Scots pine breeding programme
Working as part of our Infusing resilience into the Scots pine genetic resource project team, Jessica’s responsibilities included digitising files from past experiments, extracting 21,000 seeds from pinecones, preparing 36,000 seeds for sowing using cold...
Collaborative workshop sets direction for future UK Forest Sector Modelling
On 3 March 2026, our Forest Sector Modelling project held a stakeholder workshop attended by representatives from across the UK forestry sector, with the aim of identifying the most pressing challenges and opportunities for the sector.
Intern diary: Flynn on detecting oak shake
Find out about Flynn’s experience working on the development of non-destructive testing methodology for the detection of oak shake in standing trees.
Intern diary: Vedika on applying dendrochronology for genomic resilience
Find out about Vedika’s experience working to combine dendrochronology and genomics to understand genomic resilience in English oak.
Supporting the next generation of foresters and tree health scientists
It’s National Plant Health Week (11 – 17 May 2026) and today we are celebrating plant and tree health science and scientists! Our education and training programme aims to train future forest protection scientists as well as provide continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities for those already working in the sector.
Farmers are tree health heroes!
As part of National Plant Health Week (11 – 17 May 2026), we are celebrating plant and tree health heroes! Our Farmer action for tree resilience project is working with farmers to develop tree management resources and knowledge exchange opportunities.
Centre for Forest Protection celebrates fourth anniversary!
As part of National Plant Health Week (11 – 17 May 2026) and the CFP’s fourth anniversary, we’re celebrating our successes and looking ahead to exciting upcoming activities!
CFP researchers meet at Kew: Highlights from an inspiring day
This National Plant Health Week (11-17 May 2026) we’re taking the opportunity to celebrate the many brilliant individuals and organisations who work hard to protect tree health. To kick off the week, we’re reflecting on an inspiring day recently spent at Kew Gardens with many of our fantastic scientists.
Intern diary: Daniel on exploring the role of Scots pine resilience to environmental stress
Find out about Daniel’s experience working to investigate the resilience of Scots pine to drought and waterlogging.
Intern diary: Mahya on elm genetics and the evolution of Dutch elm disease
Find out about Mahya’s experience in understanding how Dutch elm disease evolves and spreads.
Intern diary: Cas on creating recombination maps for ash using population genetics data
Find out about Cas’ experience working to investigate ash health genomics after long-term ash dieback exposure.
Intern diary: Liam on simulating potential increases in ash dieback
Find out about Liam’s experience working to investigate ash health genomics after long-term ash dieback exposure.
Intern diary: Finlay on investigating Scots pine resilience
Find out about Finlay’s experience working to investigate the resilience of Scots pine to drought and waterlogging.
From seedlings to scientists: Fourth cohort complete Centre for Forest Protection internship
Our brilliant fourth cohort of interns recently came to the end of their time with us after contributing valuable work to their research projects and gaining lots of great experience in return!
Celebrating International Day of Forests: Highlights from Britain’s Forest Future: Research-Practice Exchange
On 17 & 18 November 2025, several of our CFP researchers travelled to Durham to present their work at ‘Britain’s Forest Future: Research-Practice Exchange’.
Interns go behind the scenes at the Millennium Seed Bank
On 10 Feb, our Interns had the valuable opportunity to visit Wakehurst Botanical Garden and go behind the scenes at the Millennium Seed Bank.
Press Release: Bangor University and Centre for Forest Protection module tackles UK and global forest health crisis
The postgraduate level module is designed to equip the current and next generation of forestry specialists with the knowledge and skills necessary to combat escalating threats to UK and global forest ecosystems.
Celebrating women & girls in forest science!
To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 Feb), a range of our talented CFP researchers share their reflections on working in forest science!
Shaping UK drought research priorities through co-design
Stakeholders representing organisations from Scotland, England and Wales joined researchers at the Forest Research Northern Research Station on 26 November to help shape the next phase of our EXPLORATION project.
Shaping understanding of Continuous Cover Forestry to reduce windthrow
On 29 October, The Wind within the Trees project held their first stakeholder workshop at Queen Elizabeth Forest Park near Aberfoyle in Scotland.
From frosty fields to forest resilience: Reviving the Scots pine breeding programme
On a frosty November day, the Scots pine tree breeding team set out to collect pine cones for our ‘Infusing resilience into the Scots pine genetic resource’ project.
Press Release: Communities and culture at the heart of ‘lost’ tree restoration
New research from the Centre for Forest Protection and University of St Andrews highlights the importance of considering social and cultural values when restoring ‘lost’ tree species.
New CFP interns hit the ground running!
At the start of October, we welcomed our fourth cohort of interns to the Centre for Forest Protection.
Phase 2: Highlights from our first biannual meeting
In Nov 25, we held the first biannual meeting of CFP Phase 2, bringing together the CFP Core Team, Board Members, Defra and CFP Project Leads, researchers and collaborators.
Sweet resilience: Growing a career in tree genomics
PhD student, and former CFP intern, Phoebe Swift tells us about her route into a career in tree genomics…
A Future Filled with Trees: National Tree Week celebrates it’s 50th anniversary
Tomorrow (22 Nov) marks the start of National Tree Week 2025, the UK’s largest annual celebration of trees!
Speed breeding project takes root at Niab
On 21 October, the team behind Centre for Forest Protection Phase 2 project ‘Speed Breeding Technologies for UK Broadleaved Trees’ held their first in-person meeting.
Goodbye and hello: New Centre for Forest Protection Lead appointed
The new Centre for Forest Protection (CFP) Lead joins us from The Tree Council.
Geoff Monck’s mission to save the yew
Geoff Monck tells us about his research into the apparent long-term decline of ancient and veteran yew trees…