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LDNPA<\/p>\nLDNPA<\/p>\n
Park bosses have warned that carving into trees “comes at a cost to nature”<\/p>\n
People carving into trees in the Lake District are causing “lasting harm”, according to those who run the national park.<\/p>\n
The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) said carvings were not “just surface scratches” but were leading to issues such decay and fungal infections.<\/p>\n
It said while it did not know how widespread the problem was in the area, engravings were usually found collectively in “quiet, secluded areas”.<\/p>\n
Woodlands officer Olivia Wass said: “What might feel like leaving a memory actually leaves a scar that damages a living tree and disrupts the ecosystem around it.”<\/p>\n
The LDNPA said carving may “seem like a relatively harmless act of vandalism” but it “comes at a cost to nature”.<\/p>\n
One area where the carvings were found was by Windermere.<\/p>\n
Ms Wass said: “A wound doesn’t close over like a cut on skin… instead, the tree grows new wood and bark around the damaged area to seal it off. <\/p>\n
“This process takes time and energy, and the original injury can remain inside the tree for life.”<\/p>\n
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LDNPA<\/p>\n
One area where the carvings were found was by Windermere<\/p>\n
She said the open wound then becomes an “an easy entry point for fungi, bacteria and sometimes insects”.<\/p>\n
“Once inside, decay can spread into the wood, reducing the tree’s strength and making it more vulnerable to storms or other stresses,” Ms Wass continued.<\/p>\n
LDNPA said thin barked species like beech, birch and young oaks were particularly vulnerable due to their protective layer being easily breached.<\/p>\n
Ms Wass said: “Carvings aren’t just surface scratches, they cause lasting harm. <\/p>\n
“Each cut can weaken the tree, shorten its life, and reduce the benefits it gives to wildlife and people.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LDNPA Park bosses have warned that carving into trees “comes at a cost to nature” People carving into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-172396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}