The ash tree is the most common tree in the Kent Downs but in 2012, ash dieback (caused by the fungal pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) was discovered in the U.K. and the disease has rapidly spread. Ash dieback is untreatable and could see the demise of up to 98% of these trees over the next decade.
The scale of the ecological impact caused by the disease is as yet unmeasured. Ash trees provide valuable ecological flood defence and contribute to air quality. Almost 1000 species use ash trees as habitat, food and life support.
Formed as a coalition of organisations in response to this devastating loss of one of the UK’s most important species of tree, The Ash Project is a cultural response to ash dieback, asking how we might mark and celebrate ash trees. Collaborating across conservation and scientific research work, the Project is developing a cultural approach that will preserve memories of the tree in extraordinary and enduring ways for the generations who will live with the loss.
Cement Fields is working in partnership with The Ash Project to present a series of artists’ walks devised in collaboration with curator Rose Thompson, each encouraging different ways of looking at and exploring the landscape in Kent.
Supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Kent County Council, and the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
