Despite nature’s recovery being impossible without them, just 7% of UK woods are in good condition for wildlife. The Woodland Trust’s new report sets out what needs to be done to restore our woods and trees in England for both wildlife and people.
⚠️Protecting and planting trees and woods for #NatureRecovery is not enough. We need to ensure they are restored to good ecological condition.
🌱 This includes extending woodland areas, restoring natural processes, using a mixture of woodland creation methods, and reintroducing keystone species.
🌳 Recovering nature is impossible without the restoration of our native woods and trees.
The government’s role in nature’s recovery
To nurture resilient landscapes that will harness nature’s recovery, we must work together, underpinned by actions only governments can take.
We urgently need to:
- improve the protection of existing native woods and trees
- incentivise excellence in conservation land management to restore nature rich woodlands
- create new native wooded habitats
- bring nature closer to where people live, particularly in urban areas
- implement Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) that also help us build resilience and adapt to a changing climate.
Helping nature recover at scale
We can’t restore nature by relying on one single approach. Policymakers must consider the role of everything from a single tree to an entire landscape.
The recommendations in our report are based around helping nature recover at three different scales: landscape scale, woodland scale, and tree scale.
1. Landscape scale nature recovery
Landscape scale nature recovery means working to protect and bring back nature across the whole landscape, rather than in isolated pockets of land. It isn’t just about nature reserves or specific woodlands – it’s about the trees, hedges, rivers, agricultural land, cities and much more between them. Together, they add up to one integrated landscape that supports much more wildlife and helps it (and us) become more resilient to climate change.
2. Woodland scale nature recovery
Woodland scale nature recovery isn’t just about planting trees. It’s about caring properly for the woods we already have: balancing groves of denser trees with more open areas; encouraging natural regeneration; creating glades for flower-rich grasslands and ponds; leaving deadwood to be used by wildlife. It’s about boosting the health of the very soil the trees grow from.
3. Tree scale nature recovery
Individual trees and groups of trees outside woods – scattered through the landscape in hedges, fields, churchyards, gardens, parks and housing estates – have a hugely important yet unsung role in nature recovery. Take the oak tree – a single old oak can support 2,300 species, making it an ecosystem in its own right.
Campaign for nature’s recovery
The Environment Act 2021 made it compulsory for every area in England to have a plan for nature, called a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS).
Please help The Woodland Trust make sure these plans are ambitious; involve local communities; and prioritise the protection, restoration and expansion of native woods and trees.
Tree Weaver 