麻豆社

In Autumn 2012, in an ancient woodland, a few miles outside of Norwich in Norfolk, a group of local wildlife trust volunteers made a discovery. Over the following months what they found would send shockwaves through society: Ash dieback, a fungal pathogen which had killed millions of ash trees as it spread through Europe, had been formally identified in the wild in the UK.

Politicians were scrutinised. Biosecurity measures stepped up. Two emergency COBR meetings were called. And the public response was one of fear and deep sadness.

Ash dieback can now be found throughout the whole of the UK. It is expected that 80 per cent of our millions of native ash trees will die because of this fungus.

In a lab, just a few miles from where it was first discovered in Ashwellthorpe in Norfolk, a team of scientists have spent the last 14 years diligently unravelling the DNA of our ash trees to find resistance. And with brilliant newly honed germination techniques, they hope to outpace this deadly fungus, and rejuvenate our ailing woodlands.

But for these tenacious scientists, and the ash trees that they love, is their biggest challenge, and most deadly threat still to come?

Presented and Produced by Clare Salisbury.