January 2023

After several logistical delays, not least the death of the Queen, the Scottish Forestry Trust finally awarded the Dr Cyril Hart Memorial Award for 2022 to the authors of a paper entitled “Are there viable chemical and non-chemical alternatives to the use of conventional insecticides for the protection of young trees from damage by the large pine weevil Hylobius abietis L. in UK forestry?” and published in the international peer reviewed journal Forestry. The paper describes a series of experiments to explore whether the forestry sector could move away from using insecticides that some regard as posing unnecessary risks for aquatic organisms. The results identified conclusively that some products offer comparable levels of protection to young Sitka spruce but others were identified as serving little purpose. Andy Moffat was delighted to be invited by Forest Research colleagues to help in the writing up of this research, and then to be amongst the team who won the prestigious award.

Further information on the award can be found here and a copy of the paper can be downloaded here. Further information on the life of Dr Cyril Hart OBE can be found here.

An important contribution to the evolving understanding of nature-based solutions for urban development was published by the Institution of Civil Engineers this week – the ICE Manual of Blue-Green Infrastructure. It draws together an exceptional breadth of material to help practitioners explain the value of Blue-Green Infrastructure to others, embed it into new development projects, retrofit to older ones, and provide for its long-term successful maintenance.

Andy Moffat was delighted to be asked to co-author the chapter on blue-green infrastructure on ex-mineral sites, and to help, with other authors, bring the subject right up to date. The chapter offers practical advice on best practice, based on a professional understanding of the legislative and regulatory framework in the UK, together with collective experience of working on a large number of restored mineral sites. Further details on the book and how to order it can be found here.