Juniper Project at Dean Hill Park
Charity Plantlife comes to Dean Hill Park for Juniper experiments
The charity Plantlife has come to Dean Hill Park to carry out important research aimed at saving the endangered plant juniper, the berries of which are used to flavour gin.
Juniper, which forms large evergreen shrubs, has been declining across Britain for decades and plant experts are in a race against time to understand why.
But at Dean Hill Park, Juniper has been bucking the trend. There are about 70 old juniper plants in the SSSI (site of special scientific interest) in the park, but these are now old and apparently infertile. Elsewhere on the site, however, juniper is flourishing. Dean Hill Park's conservation group has found about 150 juniper plants, ranging from seedlings to mature bushes.
Harving chairman Richard Parry has arranged to have two large areas of chalkland scraped bare to help Plantlife's research into how the threatened shrub regenerates. These will be sown with seed gathered by the Dean Hill Park conservation group from plants elsewhere on site.
Plantlife's press release about the project follows:
Juniper – down the hatch?
Plantlife launches a new project and survey to halt the decline of the wild plant that gave gin its name and distinctive flavour.
Tuesday 27th April 2010
Juniper is an important part of our ancient landscape and culture – one of the first trees to
colonise Britain after the last Ice Age - but today it is in serious trouble. Juniper has steadily declined over the last few decades, and many counties in southern England have lost 60-70
per cent of their juniper populations. This spring, Plantlife is launching a new conservation
project and survey across the lowlands of England to help save this charismatic species.
Losing juniper means more than losing a single species: “Without action now, juniper faces
extinction across much of lowland England by 2060,” says Tim Wilkins, Plantlife’s Species
Recovery Coordinator. “The loss of juniper would represent more than the loss of a single
species: it supports more than 40 species of insect and fungus that cannot survive without it.
The special conditions thought to be necessary for juniper seeds to germinate are also beneficial to a host of other wild plants, many of which are also under threat. By focusing on the habitat, our new project aims to help many of these species too.”
Why is it in decline?: A Plantlife survey of 44,000 upland junipers in Scotland, North Wales,
Cumbria and Northumberland in 2004-5 found that conservation action was needed to help
junipers to regenerate, as so many populations were small and ageing. Although 44,000 sounds
like a lot of juniper, only 13% of sites had juniper seedlings present. ‘Sex ratios need improving’ was an unusual conclusion of the report, as the isolation of male and female juniper bushes could severely limit pollination. The situation is made worse as most juniper stands comprise old bushes of similar age. Although these populations can persist for a long time, they can decline quite suddenly when all bushes start to die of old age at around the same time.
New project in lowland England: Juniper across lowland England is also in severe decline and
the Plantlife project is taking action to address this. “Plantlife is trialling three novel techniques to bolster the most endangered populations across the chalk and limestone country of lowland southern England,” says Tim Wilkins. “More than 30 project sites have been chosen for a range of conservation measures, including large-scale pilot management, experimental seedling shelters and - where colonies have all but died out – numbers are being bolstered through the propagation of cuttings.”
A new public survey to help save juniper: A new public survey is also being launched today
covering lowland England to provide an up-to-date picture of juniper sites. Survey forms can be
downloaded from Plantlife’s website (www.plantlife.org.uk) or obtained by phoning Plantlife’s
head office on 01722 342730 or emailing juniper@plantlife.org.uk.
Traditional uses of juniper: Juniper’s aromatic berries, which take 2-3 years to ripen, are
prized for the flavour they impart to one of our favourite drinks - gin. In fact, the word ‘gin’
derives from either genièvre or jenever - the French and Dutch words for ‘juniper’. The berries
are also used in cooking, particularly to flavour game dishes. In the 19th century, when a law
was introduced outlawing unlicensed whisky stills, juniper was harvested for fuel for this illicit
trade as it burns with an almost invisible smoke. Juniper has also long been used for its
medicinal qualities. During the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, hospitals experimented with spraying
vapourised oils into the atmosphere of flu wards in an attempt to prevent air-borne infection
spreading and juniper was one of those found to be particularly effective. …/2
The Lowland England Juniper Project is funded by Natural England, Biffaward and
Buckinghamshire County Council.
For more information and images, please contact:
Sue Nottingham Senior Press Officer - T 01722 342757 / 07861 655438
Tim Wilkins Species Recovery Coordinator – T 01722 342746
Notes for editors
1. Plantlife is the organisation that is speaking up for the nation’s wild plants. We work
hard to protect wild plants on the ground and to build understanding of the vital role
they play in everyone’s lives. Wild plants are essential to life – they clean our air and
water, provide food and shelter for our insects, birds and animals and are critical in the
fight against climate change. Plantlife carries out practical conservation work across the
UK, manages nature reserves, influences policy and legislation, runs events and activities
that connect people with their local wild plants and works with others to promote the
conservation of wild plants for the benefit of all.
2. The Countdown 2010 Biodiversity Action Fund is a Natural England grant scheme which
supports Voluntary Conservation Organisations to halt the loss of biodiversity in England
by 2010 through implementation of the England Biodiversity Strategy and UK Biodiversity
Action Plans.
3. Biffaward is a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of
Wildlife Trusts (RSWT), which utilises landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services.
Grants made from the fund currently amount to over £100 million, supporting many
worthwhile projects.
4. Buckinghamshire County Council manages many areas of public open space within the
county for a mixture of public access, landscape appeal, nature conservation and historic
interest. These included chalk downland Sites of Special Scientific Interest which have
important relic juniper populations.