The resilience of nature and society is the striking message at our Benmore Garden, where Regius Keeper Dr Julia Knights and Curator Luke Senior have joined Gordon Watson, Chief Executive of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, in the planting of a sapling grown from the roots of the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree.
The first such planting in Scotland, it is part of a UK-wide project to distribute progeny. The sapling has been planted near Benmore House outdoor centre, in the shadow of a mature sycamore over 100 years old, roughly the same age as the original tree.
Dr Knights commented: “Nearly all life depends on plants and fungi, and both are key to our health, wellbeing, and connectivity to nature. This sapling will stand as a living reminder of the importance of our natural world, and the urgent need to protect it, an urgency which drives our world-leading science and conservation work across our four Botanic Gardens in Scotland.”