Climate emergency to blame for heather crisis – National Trust

(The Guardian, 5 Sep 2019) Trust says hillsides turning from purple to brown after loss of 75% of plant on some slopes.

Hillsides across Britain have turned from glorious purple to muddy brown because of a worrying loss of heather, conservationists have warned.

The National Trust has flagged up that 75% of the plant has been lost or is struggling on some slopes that it manages in the west of England and blames the climate emergency for the problem.

Experts from the Heather Trust, which is based in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland, said it was seeing similar problems across moorland in Scotland, northern England and Wales.

According to the National Trust, the hills at Long Mynd in Shropshire and Holnicote in Somerset are typically awash with a haze of purple through August and into early September.

But this year the National Trust, which cares for both landscapes, has seen up to 75% of the heather in poor health due to a combination of last year’s drought and damage from the heather beetle.

External link

The Guardian, 5 Sep 2019: Climate emergency to blame for heather crisis – National Trust