Veteran trees and how to create artificial substitutes

One approach to solving the current biodiversity crisis is preserving present and potential veteran trees. This should be done via registration and protection of such trees, and in many cases via active management aimed at ensuring the longest possible life span. Another approach is to promote development of veteran features in younger trees through deliberate intervention. There are many pitfalls related to creating artificial habitat trees, in particular the risk of aimless, destructive and often expensive methods, which do not achieve the intended purpose. This talk will explore such issues and give recommendations on possible pathways to enhancing tree associated biodiversity such as insects, bats and fungi via creation of microhabitats. Urban trees, particularly in parks and cemeteries, are of interest in this context and may offer several opportunities to promote biodiversity with low cost and little or no risk to their surroundings.