Charity launches ancient tree bid

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A conservation charity is asking the public for help in creating a map of the UK's ancient woodlands.

The Woodland Trust says the country has more ancient trees than any other nation in northern Europe, including the 5,000-year-old Fortingall Yew.

The trust says the UK is rich in ancient woodland and it wants to establish where these trees are.

The charity wants people to search for and record online any trees that are particularly "old, fat and gnarled".

In some countries in Europe ancient trees are individually given the same conservation status as nature reserves, the trust says.

The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, which attracts thousands of visitors a year, is as old as Stonehenge and believed to be the oldest living thing in Europe.

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