Forestry Panel Cant See The Trees For The Woods
89 million non-woodland trees ignored by the Forestry Panel in their interim progress report, published on the 8th December: absence of allusion to character trees in both the terms of reference for, and the areas of expertise within, the Government’s Independent Panel on Forestry, results in a lost opportunity that could have serious repercussions for urban and field trees.
A strategy that incorporates individual trees in urban and rural locations is a prerequisite in any coherent policy and yet this important group seem to have been completely overlooked, despite representations from The Tree Council at a very early stage.
Sadly, the Panel members appear not to have afforded the role of individual trees any degree of significance in the call for views or the interim report, compounding the omission by those who appointed and briefed them. This absence of relevant expertise or direct involvement in urban tree strategy is an omission that risks damaging the credibility of an otherwise worthwhile undertaking.
Director-General Pauline Buchanan Black
The previous Government's Policy for England’s Trees, Woods and Forests, published in 2007, observed in its introduction that there were about 89 million individual trees in urban parks and streets, orchards and gardens as well as in fields, hedgerows, rural parklands and wood pastures.
Such trees provide many benefits.
They offer habitats for wildlife, give character to the landscape - urban and rural - and make cultural links to our past.
Hedgerow trees are associated with 55% of the priority Biodiversity Action Plan species whilst veteran park trees support a high proportion of our Red Data List and Nationally Scarce species.
Trees in the right urban location make a big difference to the quality of people’s lives, improving the places in which they live and work and giving a sense of identity to areas where new housing is being developed.
Growing populations will increasingly rely on urban trees as an integral element of sustainable green infrastructure; trees regulate the urban micro-climate and reduce air pollution whilst grass roots involvement in planning and executing tree planting schemes helps build cohesive and engaged communities.
Individual trees are hugely important and should have been specifically referenced. Here in Walsall, we are fortunate to have strong local authority support but we need the Forestry Panel to listen harder, give a strong lead on the immense value of individual urban and rural trees and validate the concerns of volunteers, environmental organisations and members of the public across the country.
Jackie Cocken, volunteer Tree Warden