Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, managed by Forestry England, has announced the appointment of Rosie Anderson as its new tree conservation manager.

This key appointment, made possible through the generous fundraising efforts of the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum (The Friends), reinforces the arboretum's continued commitment to global tree conservation.

Rosie, who has served as dendrologist at Westonbirt for the past three years, brings a wealth of knowledge and a strong passion for conservation to this vital role.

Westonbirt leads the Global Conservation Consortium for whitebeams, rowans and service trees, an initiative launched to address the conservation needs of this group, which includes numerous threatened trees native to the UK.

The arboretum also contributes to other international initiatives and has an active seed collecting expedition programme, working in collaboration with other botanic garden partners. Rosie's expertise will be instrumental in expanding this vital work to protect threatened tree species nationally and internationally.

Rosie said: "I'm delighted to take on the role of tree conservation manager at Westonbirt. Having gained valuable experience in my previous role, I'm excited to build on this work and look forward to continued collaboration with colleagues and partners to make a meaningful impact on tree conservation."

Andrew Smith, director of Westonbirt Arboretum, said: "Rosie's experience and passion for conservation make her the ideal person for this important role as we work towards our conservation objectives, in particular as we continue to develop the Global Conservation Consortium for whitebeams, rowans and service trees.

"We are immensely grateful to the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum for their support and recognition of the important conservation work. Rosie will be working as part of the team led by The Arboretum curator, Dan Crowley. Through their work we continue to take significant steps towards realising our vision of becoming a world leader in trees."