Our apples are in danger

The humble British apple is under threat, as two-thirds of our orchards have been lost since 1960; a reason for this being they are being used to plant cereal crops or build houses. Each loss impacts not only on the wildlife that thrives on them, but also for local individuality. With more and more apples disappearing, so is the local knowledge of recipes, songs, historical growing customs, and cider-making. Some British apple varieties have gone completely extinct, which is bad news for growers, who lose the specific genetic information that can be used to breed better varieties in the future.