Kent County Council Hosts European Partners to Advance Heritage Trees Research

Roots Across Borders

Picture a centuries-old apple tree in a Kentish orchard — gnarled, unremarkable to the passing eye, yet carrying genetics that have quietly shaped this landscape for generations. That’s the kind of living heritage that brought international visitors to Kent recently, when Kent County Council hosted partners from the Heritage Trees Project in East Flanders, Belgium.

The Belgian initiative identifies monumental, long-lived trees of cultural and genetic significance, then propagates their descendants — cuttings, grafts, new saplings — before the originals eventually fall and take their bloodline with them. Think of it as saving seed from a rare variety before it vanishes from the field for good. Straightforward enough in principle. In practice, it takes years of painstaking survey work, specialist horticultural knowledge, and the kind of cross-border collaboration that doesn’t happen by accident.

What Kent Is Already Doing

The visit connects directly to KCC’s existing Trees Outside Woodland project — part of a £4.8 million, five-year national programme funded by the UK Government’s Shared Outcomes Fund. Kent is a key local authority partner, running pilots to test cost-effective ways of planting and managing trees outside traditional woodland: along hedgerows, in fields, on highway verges, in parks.

And KCC’s Historic Treescapes Grant is already operating in Dover district, funding restoration of historic hedgerows, in-field trees, orchards, parkland trees and small copses. Eligible species include apple, damson, hazel, pear, plum and walnut. The old orchard varieties, in other words — the ones that gave the Garden of England its name.

Knowledge exchanged during the visit looks set to sharpen how KCC identifies, records and propagates heritage trees, feeding that work into its broader planting programmes across the county.

Why Non-Woodland Trees Matter

Counterintuitive as it sounds, trees growing outside continuous woodland — solitary field trees, hedgerow standards, parkland specimens — often deliver more environmental value per tree than those packed into dense woodland blocks. They support pollinators, create wildlife corridors, help manage water across catchments like the Medway and Great Stour, and contribute to carbon sequestration. Not bad for something you might drive past without a second glance.

Heritage trees carry an extra dimension. They anchor the look of landscapes that have appeared a particular way for centuries, and some hold genetic traits found nowhere else on earth.

KCC says the collaboration is intended to support biodiversity gains, improved habitat connectivity and greater resilience to climate change across both rural and semi-urban parts of the county.

Wider Opportunities — and Questions

There’s potential here well beyond planting. Heritage tree work could feed into green tourism, with iconic specimens incorporated into walking routes and interpretation trails. Local volunteering and citizen science — community groups surveying and recording heritage trees across Kent — could also grow from this kind of international exchange. Whether that ambition translates into funded, sustained programmes rather than a series of well-meaning pilots remains to be seen.

But questions remain. Conservation organisations may push for assurances that only native and locally appropriate species are used, and that sensitive designated sites aren’t disrupted by poorly planned planting. Farmers and landowners will want clarity on what long-term obligations might come with heritage tree designations on their land — a reasonable concern, given how these things can run.

Those conversations are likely to develop as the Trees Outside Woodland project moves through its five-year evaluation period.

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Key Takeaways

• Kent County Council hosted partners from the Heritage Trees Project in East Flanders, Belgium, to share knowledge on identifying, propagating and protecting heritage trees
• KCC is a key partner in the £4.8 million national Trees Outside Woodland project, running pilots across the county on non-woodland tree planting and management
• The Historic Treescapes Grant, currently focused on Dover district, funds restoration of orchards, hedgerows, parkland trees and in-field trees using traditional species

What This Means for Kent Residents

If you live in or near Dover district, the Historic Treescapes Grant may already be supporting tree restoration on land near you — and the scope of that work could broaden as KCC learns from its Belgian counterparts. For residents across the county, the longer-term outcome could mean more visible heritage trees along footpaths, in parks and across the rural landscape, alongside better-connected wildlife habitats. Landowners and farmers interested in grants for hedgerow or orchard restoration can contact Kent County Council directly to find out what support is currently available in their area.