Having had much success over the previous five years in raising the profile of the UK’s natural environment among decision makers, the Woodland Trust is now gaining attention through its latest campaign.
In 2012, the organisation succeeded in planting six million trees across the UK, creating hundreds of new woods in celebration of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Last year, it grabbed headlines with its Tree of the Year competition and now, with its
First World War Centenary Woods initiative
, it hopes to repeat both previous years’ successes.
Parliamentarians will have their chance to learn more about Centenary Woods, as well as the issues facing the UK’s woods and trees at an event in Parliament today.
The scheme will see one million trees planted in four newly acquired Woodland Trust woods across the country and, 100 years on from the conflict, will both commemorate the sacrifices made by soldiers and create a legacy for future generations.
Woodland Trust CEO, Beccy Speight, said “It’s about commemorating World War One with something that we believe will be a living legacy – planting new woods in each country of the UK, and creating 1,000 acres of woodland for people to enjoy.
“This will include 3 million free trees for schools and community groups to plant as well.
“Today’s event is an important opportunity for us to remind MPs about the great role trees and woods play in our communities and all the positive benefits they bring.”
Those benefits are becoming increasingly recognised within political circles. One of they key drivers of that heightened awareness is the work of the Natural Capital Committee, which was set up by government in 2012 and is comprised of leading figures from academia and business.
With a focus on assessing the economic benefits of protecting and improving natural capital, the committee presents an authoritative and compelling case for investment in trees and woodland.
Ms Speight and the Woodland Trust are urging all relevant Government departments to embrace the findings.
She said: “Increasingly there is so much evidence of the benefits trees and woods bring in terms of economic value. The work of the Natural Capital Committee has really highlighted that. The thing we’ve really taken from their work is the strong case they put forward showing that 250,000 hectares of new woodland in urban areas could bring social benefits above £500m a year. That is tremendously important. It could be fantastic for a city to look at its green belt perhaps as less of a planning battleground and more as something that could really bring benefit to a city.
“The NCC also recommended a 25 year recovery plan for nature, which we wholeheartedly support. If that can link in with Liz Truss’s 25 year plan for food and farming, the two will obviously bring huge benefits.
“And I think almost every agenda touches woods and trees in some way. Whether that’s the benefits woods and trees can bring to agricultural sustainability and production, or whether it’s looking at how they can improve people’s health and wellbeing, or the part they can play in solutions to long-term flooding. There are all sorts of ways they add value and I think increasingly it is being recognised. And we want to make sure that continues to be the case.”
Having successfully engaged parliamentarians over recent years, the Woodland Trust is now keen for positive discussion to be turned into decisive action, putting trees at the heart of the policy agenda.
An area where this is particularly important is in influencing infrastructure planning, especially on grand projects such as HS2 and the expansion of UK airport capacity.
The organisation is not opposed to development per se, but would like to see it carried out in an environmentally sensitive way.
According to Ms Speight that involves “taking into account things like ancient woodland as an irreplaceable resource, and making sure damage to it is avoided wherever possible. In relation to proposals around HS2 we want to see a full Chilterns tunnel, for example, because of the damage that will be done to ancient woodland under existing proposals.
“On the Airports Commission’s recent pronouncement, we’re frustrated by the lack of reference to the natural environment when environmental impact is being discussed. Our concern focuses on the potentially significant damage to ancient woodland and ancient trees likely to be caused by the proposals. These are valuable assets for both people and wildlife, so, it’s just about trying to offer maximum protection for these, as well as looking at incorporating new planting into infrastructure projects, so that we get maximum benefit for the environment.”
In other policy areas, the key for the Woodland Trust is that Government implements proposals that have already won support. This includes greater protections for ancient woodland, and improvements to tree planting rates that are currently sitting at half what’s needed to achieve a much-needed rise in the UK’s woodland cover.
This also applies to the Public Forest Estate, the future for which is still not secure. “In 2011 there were proposals to sell off part of the Public Forest Estate, which created uproar at the time,” Ms Speight recalls.
“The Independent Panel on Forestry was pulled together by Government to look at the future of the Estate and one of its recommendations, which the Government accepted, was to bring appropriate legislation forward to create a future for it. That legislation has never materialised. So, we would love to see the new Government act on this and finally secure the Estate’s future.”
Having achieved so much in the last Parliament the charity is positive it can continue to make progress over the next term, and is just hoping that politicians will be able to see the woods for the trees.