Ministers must slash spiralling tree imports to reduce threats of diseases entering Britain, woodland campaigners have warned.
Some 128 million trees and shrubs were imported into the UK last year – up from 126 million the previous year.

It costs around £4billion every year to limit the spread of invasive species in the UK, including plants and animals.

Rebecca Gosling, tree health expert at the Woodland Trust, said: “International trade of plants and trees presents a risk of introducing new pests and pathogens which threaten our woods and trees – and the many thousands of species that live on them.

“If millions of trees continue to be lost due to imported pests and diseases, it will have a huge knock-on impact not only on the native wildlife that relies on trees but also our enjoyment of the UK countryside.”

Around 2,000 non-native plant and animal species have been introduced to the UK.

The Japanese knotweed plant, which can cost thousands to eradicate and even cause house sales to collapse, has been a menace across Britain.

Its fast growth rate and damaging roots lead to lending restrictions and reduced valuations for some property owners.

Meanwhile ash dieback – a highly destructive disease that impacts ash trees – has also threatened the UK’s common ash.

The pest is caused by a fungus which is of eastern Asian origin.

And rhododendron is an invasive plant species that can be destructive to native habitat.

The plant, which is native to Asia, and also occurs in Spain, Portugal and Turkey.

But its extensive root system and leaf litter is toxic to many other plants. It often harbours a fungus-like pathogen that affects many other trees and plants too.

The Woodland Trust said reducing the UK’s dependence on plant imports is vital to protecting Britain from diseases and pests.
But previous UK governments fell short of their tree-planting targets, figures have shown.

Ms Gosling said: “Growing the trees we need, right here in the UK, is one of the best ways to ensure we do not introduce any new tree diseases into our landscape.

“We have some fantastic tree nurseries across the UK which grow the trees that the Woodland Trust and many others need.”
But she called for more support from ministers to help them thrive.

“We are urging the new Government to recommit to boost our domestic production of trees,” Ms Gosling added.

A recent report  from the Government says plant consignments have been brought in from the EU, Africa, Asia, North America, Oceana, as well as Central and South America.

A spokesman for the environment department said: “We have strict biosecurity measures in place to minimise the risk to UK trees including prohibiting the import of the highest risk trees.                                                                                   

“We are also investing £28 million in domestic nurseries through our Nature for Climate Fund and we will introduce a Tree Planting Taskforce to boost tree-planting, and increase tree canopy and woodland cover across our four nations.”