In 2018 Government advisers warned that tree planting in the UK needed to double in order to tackle the issues associated with climate change, however between April and September last year only 736 hectares of new forest were planted – 70% of the amount planted in 2019. Not only has the UK failed to meet our tree plating targets but some recent initiatives have resulted in damage to vital natural environments due to poor decisions on the species of tree or planting location.
This article from the Guardian sets the wider historical context of why the right tree in the right place is so important, especially now with millions of Ash trees cut down as a result of Ash dieback and the suggestion by the Committee on Climate Change, the government’s statutory adviser, that to meet the target of net-zero carbon by 2050, we need to plant at least 30,000 hectares of new trees every year. Find out more here.
Despite government pledges to increase tree cover, tree planting in England has fallen this year (2020), according to the Times and the Independent who have written up the latest statistics from the Forestry Commission. Just 736 hectares of new forest were planted from April to September this year, which is only about 70% of the area planted in the same period of the previous year. The government responded to the coverage, saying that it will “continue to listen to the sector and make further changes to improve our existing schemes where we can, and as we design new schemes in the future.” (Inkcap 27 Nov 2020)
Rules govern the planting of any woodland of more than 2 hectares and this blog post from the Forestry Commission explains why these rules are in place and why ‘the right tree, in the right place, and for the right reason’ is so important.
A working example is shown in The Environment Agency’s manual for ‘keeping rivers cool’; a guide to planting riparian trees in order to provide shade and cooling for freshwater ecology, in the face of a changing climate and increasing summer peak temperatures.
The UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) is the reference standard for sustainable forest management across the UK, and applies to all woodland, regardless of who owns or manages it.
