Freedom of Information Request – Tree removals and removal requests for insurance or building damage reasons

Thank you for your information request, which we received on 12 July. We have considered your request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’).

Your Request

Trees that are near buildings are often threatened by requests for removal. These requests normally come from homeowners or property owners or their insurance companies after trees are alleged to be causing damage. In many cases these trees pre-date the buildings that are being affected.

Since you own a significant amount of land, you are responsible for a large number of trees - either through direct ownership or because of a responsibility for maintenance and any liability that may arise. I would like to understand more about how claims for building or infrastructure damage issue affect your organisation and the trees you are responsible for.

In particular, I would like to know, over the past 10 years:

• The locations of trees removed by your organisation due to property or infrastructure damage, ideally accompanied by their species and the date of removal where possible (locations via GIS data, What3Words, OS coordinates, or addresses as you find easiest)
• How many of/which of these trees were removed due to claims or requests from insurance companies
• How much your organisation paid to remove each tree (if this can be attributed per removal, or how much the organisation spent on tree removal each financial year if not)
• How much your organisation paid out in insurance claims for tree damage to properties (individual claim values preferred, but an aggregate value may be acceptable if you consider the individual values to be exempt from disclosure)
• The number of trees where removal has been requested, but was either refused, an alternative solution found, or the situation is still ongoing; any breakdown that can be provided (similar to above, e.g, species and location) would be appreciated

Please follow the following principles when considering this request:

• Data at an individual tree level is preferred, but where you consider this can't be disclosed due to commercial or legal agreements (e.g, insurance claims, contractor works) then aggregate data either annually or (worst case) over the whole period may be acceptable
• Some data is better than no data; for example, if data is only available for the last 5 years then that is better than refusing the request

Our Response

We have discussed your request with our Operations and Property Teams, and we have responded to each of your questions below based on your timescale of the past 10 years.

The locations of trees removed by your organisation due to property or infrastructure damage, ideally accompanied by their species and the date of removal where possible (locations via GIS data, What3Words, OS coordinates, or addresses as you find easiest).

NatureScot undertake regular tree surveys on all our sites and assess whether they are potentially dangerous for public safety or damage to buildings. Very few of our reserves have privately owned properties on or directly adjacent to them.

1. Isle of Rum – 1 beech tree removed due to risk to a residential property – Grid Ref NM402996 – this tree was removed by tree surgeons due to the scale of the tree and its proximity to buildings. – cost to NatureScot - £1,500 – March/April 2024
2. Loch Fleet NNR – 1 tree removed due to risk to power line(s) – Grid Ref NH812978 – this tree was removed by the electricity company - at no cost to NatureScot - September 2022
3. Loch Fleet NNR – 1 tree removed due to risk to bird hide on the NNR – Grid Ref NH803974 – this tree was removed by estate staff – at no cost to NatureScot – December 2017
4. Craigellachie NNR – 1 birch tree fell onto a garage of a residential property – Grid Ref NH885126 – It was not removed by NatureScot, and our records show no costs incurred by NatureScot – February 2016.
5. Craigellachie NNR – 1 birch tree fell onto a fence on a neighbouring property – Grid Ref NH885126 – It is unclear from our records who removed the tree but our records show no costs incurred by NatureScot - February 2020