Conservation tonic for gin lovers

Juniper is an important part of the UK's culture and landscape

A Denbighshire scheme to replenish juniper stocks could be good news for British gin lovers.

Wild juniper conifer plants, whose berries flavour the popular tipple, are in severe decline across the UK.

But botanists harvested cuttings from a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Prestatyn, and grew them in special conditions at Chester Zoo.

Denbighshire diversity officer Kate Taylor said juniper had many uses, but gin was the "really famous one".

Denbighshire Council's Countryside Service took cuttings from 20 plants which have been growing on a hillside near Prestatyn for more than 100 years.

The cuttings were taken to Chester Zoo to be raised under carefully-controlled conditions for two years.

The young conifers have now been re-planted in Prestatyn, doubling the population to 40.

'Over-grazed'

Kate Taylor, a biodiversity officer with Denbighshire Council, said: "Some more cuttings are growing at the moment, so hopefully we'll have a good supply.

"The plants on Prestatyn hillside were generally very old bushes, at least 100 years old.

"Reproduction isn't really occurring anymore, and the plants suffer from being shaded out by scrub. They're also over-grazed by rabbits and sometimes sheep."

She added: "The cuttings have been grown in Chester so they reach a suitable size where they won't automatically be decimated by rabbits.

"They have been re-planted and hopefully will continue to grow so the population is boosted.

"Juniper has been used for a variety of things over the years, including medicines, but obviously flavouring gin is the really famous one."

Highly valued

In recent years, a study by charity Plantlife found that many juniper plants are now between 100 and 200 years old, and can no longer reproduce.

In the past, the tree was highly valued for firewood and for making gin, ensuring a constant turnover of plants.

But around the turn of the last century, interest in the plant started to wane and land was no longer managed in a way that encouraged its growth.

Estimates suggest that up to 46% of juniper plants may have disappeared across England since the 1970s.

At the same time, Ireland has seen a 35% decline, whilst Scotland has lost 30% of its plants, and Wales a further 18%.