It is tree planting season in the UK. With their amazing carbon storage ability, flood alleviation capacity and biodiversity boosting potential, trees are fast becoming a critical part of plans to reduce net carbon emissions and mitigate against global warming. But with only 13 percent tree cover the UK lags behind Europe when it comes forest density, a fact the Committee on Climate Change and The Woodland Trust want to change.

These and other organisations are calling on Government to plant over 90 million trees per year as part of plans to change land use to reduce emissions and reverse the decline in biodiversity. 

In this episode we find that ensuring that trees deliver the benefits that they are capable of requires careful design and long-term management especially for carbon storage which peaks when trees reach maturity decades into the future.

This presents a challenge for organisations seeking to reduce their carbon footprints by planting trees today and experts warn that planting trees should not be a deterrent to reducing the creation of greenhouse gas emissions.  

Guests

Rob Gazzard, Adviser, Contingency Planning, Technical Guidance and Wildfire, The Forestry Commission

Peter Leeson, Woodland Creation Advisor, The Woodland Trust

Maria Manidaki, Water Investment Planning Advisor, Mott MacDonald

Duncan McLaren, Professor in Practice and Research Fellow, Lancaster University

Helen Neave, Founder, Make it Wild

Resources

Emergency Tree Plan for the UK, The Woodland Trust

England Tree Strategy Consultation

Towards a UK Fire Danger Rating System, Manchester University

Forestry Commission Statistics 2020

The Secret Life of Trees, Colin Tudge