The Woodland Trust
has published its Emergency Tree Plan – the first of its kind and a challenge
to governments.
It sets out how the
UK can rapidly increase tree cover to help reach net zero carbon emissions and
tackle the declines in wildlife.
Key points include:
- Design and fund an approach
to woodland creation that addresses both the climate and nature crises
together
- Annual rates of woodland
creation need to be more than doubled, starting in 2020
- New targets for quality of
woodland creation as well as quantity
- New grants should be provided
for natural regeneration of trees
- An emergency increase in
resources is required to help national and local government deliver on
Government tree pledges across the UK.
Dr Darren Moorcroft,
CEO of the Woodland Trust said: “Tree
planting rates are the lowest in decades, and 1 in 10 wildlife and plant
species is under threat from extinction. Disease and pests have taken hold and
risk wiping out millions of our native trees. Never has the picture appeared
bleaker.
“We’ve seen a lot of talk about trees and that
is welcome but we’ve yet to see the action that is required. We’ve left
ourselves a phenomenal amount to do in a very short space of time. The moment
of crisis has come and action needs to be taken this year.
“Our Emergency Tree
Plan...outlines what needs to be done to increase our tree cover to help tackle
the climate and nature emergencies and to help the UK reach its targets for net
zero carbon emissions. Government needs bold policies and local authorities and
landowners need the support to act swiftly and of a scale to expand tree cover
across the UK. I can’t stress enough that we can’t be here, in the same
position next year for all our sakes.
The report, titled Emergency Tree Plan for the UK, follows a
General Election in which we saw major tree planting pledges from every
political party.
"Now we
urgently need to translate political ambitions for trees into action that
delivers for wildlife, climate and people," he continued. "To
increase tree cover the UK needs to pursue a mix of approaches, at a variety of
scales appropriate to the landscape. These must include expanding native
woodland, sustainable commercial plantations, agroforestry, urban trees, hedges
and individual countryside trees.
"The UK is one
of the least wooded countries in Europe with just 13% tree cover compared to
the European average of 37%. And only 7% of this is native woodland. In order
to reach the target of 17-19% tree cover recommended by the Independent Climate
Change Committee, trees will need to be planted on an unprecedented scale, but
the right trees in the right places are needed.
"The
Government’s own research shows that 84% of people think wildlife should be a
priority in terms of woodland creation and most people are in favour of the
Government increasing tree planting.
“Previous
governments have tried to dramatically increase tree planting rates before. In
doing so, some of our finest wildlife sites were damaged. We can’t afford to
make the wrong decisions about how and where we expand tree cover. We don’t
have time. And future generations are demanding urgent action for our wildlife
and climate. We hope the Emergency Tree Plan will challenge Government to move
forward at the scale and pace we need. We look forward to playing our part
along with many other partners.
"The Trust is
also launching a new campaign calling on the government in each UK country to
adopt ambitious policies and plans for expanding tree cover and to provide the
resources to do this."
