The UK’s Tree Planting & Woodland Creation for the Environment
Photo from https://www.positive.news/environment/can-the-uk-plant-120-million-trees-a-year/; James Genchi
Edited by Lianne Lee
The UK government to target 30,000 hectares of new trees planted per year in the next two years. Currently, with less than half the goal achieved, will this goal still be feasible? Well, the National Forest may have a blueprint for sampling more trees to root!
Across a landscape that was once filled with coal mining and industrial manufacturing, a new forest is seemingly thriving and developing. A transformation is taking place over 200 square-mile patches of the Midlands. Ever since 1990, the tree coverage had increased from 6 to 22 per cent when the first sampling was planted. The ultimate goal is for one-third of this area to be made up of forest habitats by 2045 equating to over 6 metres more trees, with 250,000 trees planted yearly. The UK’s wide target is to plant over a hundred square miles of trees per year, and that’s 20-120 trees by 2025!
Inspecting the current environmental situation, it is more complex than just planting trees anymore. The right type of trees has to be planted at the right place to pursue a mosaic environment rather than a monoculture one. For instance, fruit trees for farmed landscapes, woodlands across new housing developments, and deciduous trees in parkland that urban communities have access to too. John Everitt, the chief executive of the National Forest company, said: “a successful experiment” that not only prioritises the planet but also benefits society.
The motivation is to drive and regenerate biodiversity and climate-resilient habitats, and to do so, it all begins with mapping. The team needs to analyse the land, structure, soil type and land use to pinpoint the best trees for the right areas.
“This forest landscape will evolve over time, it’s dynamic and can adapt to the future!”
For this aim to be more realistic in the future, the industry needs 72 per cent more tree experts to meet the government’s planting targets. Everitt hopes the Ethos will replicate worldwide for its forestry network to expand and interconnect with other countries.
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