Time to panic… we could be facing a gin shortage

A fungal disease has left Scottish Juniper plants in a ‘critical state’
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Liz Connor29 October 2015

If you’d rather spend your saturday night nursing a G&T than a pint of craft beer, there could be austere times ahead, as it’s been revealed that Britain's native juniper population is at risk of dying out, with overgrazing and a new fungal disease threatening its existence.

A new study by Plantlife has shed light on the issue, revealing that 79 per cent of Scottish juniper plants recorded were "mature, old or dead".

Scotland was considered to hold the last remaining disease-free Juniper population, but studies have found less than a third of the stock is fit for usage.

Surveys since 2004 have shown that juniper is declining, both in its range and size, and in 2013 it was reported that many parts of southern England had lost around 60-70 per cent of their juniper trees because of the disease, which is now of ‘major concern’.

The report report found 79 per cent of juniper recorded in 2014 was either mature, old or dead and 63 per cent of bushes were found to have brown patches - symptoms of the disease.

In shortage: juniper
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The growing issue has only been reported in Argentina and Britain, though scientists are still unaware of how the disease made its way to our shores.

And with Juniper seed taking a whole two summers to ripen, it might be time to switch your tipple to a whisky on the rocks.

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But there is a silver lining for gin lovers, most gin producers in the UK import juniper from elsewhere in Europe, with just a few niche brands using plants grown in Britain.

Still, if you’re keen to help the effort to keep our juniper trees alive (and our gin flowing), Plantlife has published a free guide to help amateur botanists identify, survey and protect the plants.

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