Issue 60

FUNCTION VENUES
RICHARD BECKER/WTML
PHILIP FORMBY/WTML
Grants
for Plants
Apply this autumn for help with tree and hedge
planting through Woodland Trust
TREES ARE essential for people, wildlife
and the environment. We desperately need
trees, yet after centuries of damage and
deforestation, just 13% of our land area is
forested. Climate change, wildlife decline and
pollution are very real threats and are already
affecting the UK.
Trees can be part of the solution when
it comes to climate change. They don’t
just mitigate carbon, removing it from
the atmosphere, they also sequester
it – absorbing carbon dioxide during
photosynthesis and then locking it up for
centuries. Much of this carbon is stored in the
leaves, which transfer it to the woodland soil
when they fall from the tree and rot down.
Trees near waterbodies can also be
useful flood defences in an age where
climate change is increasing flooding. Trees
reduce the amount of rainwater entering
watercourses, which in turn lowers the
likelihood of a river bursting its banks and
flooding low-lying areas.
But climate change isn’t the only threat
we’re facing. We’re also living through
a biodiversity crisis. Moths, birds, bats,
dormice, butterflies, fungi – they all depend
on woods, trees and hedges to feed, breed
and thrive. With 53% of our woodland wildlife
species in decline, and woodland butterflies
in particular plummeting by 58% since 1990,
the figures speak for themselves. Woodland
cover in the UK is among the lowest in
Europe, and we need to do more to increase
it to help our wildlife to thrive.
Trees are not only essential for wildlife
but for our own health and wellbeing. There
is an ever-growing mountain of scientific
evidence on the health benefits of trees,
woods and the natural environment. As well
as keeping our atmosphere rich in oxygen,
trees filter pollutants from the air, shade
our streets when it’s hot and even improve
our immunity. Research has shown that
chemicals called phytoncides, released by
plants and trees, strengthen our immune,
hormonal, circulatory and nervous systems
when we breathe them in.
Farmers and landowners can also benefit.
Trees shelter crops and livestock from our
increasingly wild weather and offer them
shady spots for respite from heatwaves. They
improve soil health and prevent erosion, with
those along or near watercourses helping to
protect from the pollution in run-off. Trees
also create opportunities to improve and
diversify outdoor businesses, by growing
fruit, nuts or woodfuel, or creating desirable
wooded camping nooks or enhancing the
visitor experience with woodland walks,
recreational areas and forest bathing.
BENEFITS FOR LANDOWNERS
Landowners play a vital role in managing our
iconic British countryside, including trees
and hedgerows. Many are balancing the need
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