THE Woodland Trust is concerned that across the whole of the UK, almost 84,000 ancient, veteran or notable trees could be in danger — in Devon, 868 beloved trees may be affected.

The charity's Ancient Tree Hunt register contains more than 115,000 trees, some of which have survived for more than 1,000 years, and the majority of these could face direct threats from pests and diseases. This includes 7,000 ash trees which may be at risk from ash dieback/Chalara fraxinea.

Ancient trees are the natural equivalent of listed buildings; they have stood for hundreds of years and witnessed historic events.

Sadly, ash dieback is not the only threat to our ancient trees; there are at least 15 known diseases and pests that pose an immediate threat. These include Acute oak decline and the oak processionary moth, Phytopthora kernoviae which affects oak and beech, and Dothistroma needle blight which affects Scots pine.

the Woodland Trust is urging members of the public to check the health of trees, to help the trust build up an accurate picture of the health of tree stock.

Austin Brady, head of conservation at the Trust, said: 'Losing some trees to diseases and pests is all part of life and death in the forest, but to lose our precious ancient trees would be absolutely terrible.

'These huge stalwarts have taken centuries to grow and their loss would just be devastating not only for the landscape but also for the environment.

'At the Woodland Trust we are looking at ways to fight tree disease and we will be holding a conference in June with some of the top minds in conservation, forestry and tree health to find a way forward for our country's trees and woods.

'We need the public to help by getting into the great outdoors, looking at trees and checking them for signs of disease, so we have as accurate a picture of the situation as possible.'

With spring finally here, the next tree to come into leaf will be our iconic ash which is threatened by ash dieback or Chalara fraxinea. One of the easiest ways to see if a tree is suffering from ash dieback is to look at a young branch and scratch a little of the bark off, if it is green underneath the tree is healthy, if it is brown it is not.

Watch out for wilting on the leaves, which may throughout the summer become more blackened but still stay on the branch, diamond-shape lesions on the trunk or a balding crown.

To find out more download the Tree Alert app or visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/treealert">www.forestry.gov.uk/treealert