TODAY, on pages 26 and 27, we help to launch a new initiative designed to assist islanders to appreciate one of the aspects that makes Guernsey special but also one that is in danger of being seriously under-valued.

Treasured Trees is a multi-agency effort to encourage people not only to notice some of the spectacular specimens in the island but also to share their enthusiasm with others, through this newspaper if they wish.

Why? Because trees matter. Quite apart from adding perspective to any landscape, they also provide tangible social, community, environmental and economic benefits and, since the earliest settlers first arrived here, have been an indispensable part of the Guernsey scene.

Trees, particularly the native oak, gave the Forest and St Pierre du Bois their names and Le Bouet reflects in Guernsey French that area’s previous appearance as a spinney.

Islanders who survived the Occupation here will recall how the Germans felled thousands of trees, including the mature plants lining St Julian’s Avenue, and the visual degradation that caused.

Neolithic settlers favoured elms, because they regenerated swiftly and provided fodder for cattle and, ironically, the wholesale fellings in 1940-45 provided Guernsey with its ‘modern’ appearance of  stately elms lining the hedges as the stumps suckered, spread and flourished.

Dutch elm disease in the 90s, however, triggered further fellings and the island now has fewer trees than at any time in its past – a situation Treasured Trees would like to rectify.

Appreciating these giants of the plant world is not just for tree huggers: it just takes a few seconds to see what’s already there – our photographers were amazed that they hadn’t previously noticed some of the examples they were asked to picture – and reflect how much poorer the island would be without them.

They also provide a link with the past because of their longevity and, as with Victor Hugo’s oak at Hauteville planted in 1870 to predict a forthcoming ‘United States of Europe’, can be a potent symbol of hope for the future.

All in all, there is much to treasure in a tree.