Why we need more trees.

It’s well known that trees in our landscape bring many benefits for the environment, wildlife, and people’s health.  Unfortunately, the UK is now one of the least forested countries in Europe (13% compared to the average of 44%), meaning we miss out on many of these benefits. At Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, we are on a mission to increase tree cover in Warwickshire and bring wildlife back. Trees not only provide habitat for plants, animals, and fungi, but they purify our air, control flooding and store carbon to fight climate change. They also improve the visual appearance of landscapes and offer physical and mental health benefits to people. Increasing tree cover in Warwickshire is our legacy to future generations.

How we get more trees.

If we left our unwooded land alone, a majority of it could eventually turn back into woodland on its own over decades and centuries. However, due to the scale of the challenge, and because humans have altered our landscape and ecosystems so much, nature often needs a helping hand. We are missing many tree species (and their seeds) in our landscapes, and so if we were to leave it to nature it could take very long time for these missing species to return. This is not ideal as a greater range of tree species benefits a greater range of wildlife. We also want to make sure we encourage the right tree in the right place and so bolstering this “natural regeneration” of trees with our work helps us to help bring in the most appropriate trees for the area. Additionally, as humans have exterminated many natural apex predators, we now need to protect trees from increasing numbers of herbivores, such as deer, which threaten the growth of new trees. 

We help to increase the number of trees in Warwickshire in the following ways:

Protecting naturally colonising trees from herbivores using tree guards and temporary fences. Naturally occurring local trees are often better adapted to the site conditions and can be healthier in the short term as their roots have grown undisturbed. They also don’t come with the energy costs and impact of those trees grown in nurseries.

Planting new trees on low quality habitat is a way to increase its value and speed up the process of bringing woodlands back. We often include gaps in the plantations to allow for an element of natural colonisation, as a diverse woodland is better for wildlife.

Planting trees in hedgerows is a great way to provide mini-woodland corridors where it isn’t appropriate to create new woodland. For example, wildflower rich meadows provide their own benefits and important wildlife, but hedges running along the edges can provide additional habitat, linking up woodlands and allowing woodland wildlife to move across the landscape. Hedgerows still provide many of the other benefits of woodlands including storing carbon and controlling floods.

Planting new trees within existing woodlands is an important way to bring more trees into Warwickshire and protect the long-term health of a woodland. When you see woodlands as a 3D structure you realise that there is a lot more room for trees than you may have realised, and increasing the tree density by filling these gaps can also improve woodland structure for wildlife. It is important to have the next generation of trees growing ready to replace older trees, and species such as dormice and some birds thrive in denser thickets of smaller trees. 

Help us by dedicating a tree.

Every tree dedication will pay for the cost of establishing and growing one tree past their difficult early years.  Planting a tree is not the end of the story. New trees are extremely vulnerable in their early life and are competing for light, water, and food, and can be damaged or killed by animals. To give them the best chance to grow on, we can’t just leave them alone. Our management includes guarding trees from animals, watering young trees in droughts, clearing competing vegetation, removing tree guards at the right time, and replacing trees that are lost. New saplings, staff time, materials and equipment all come at a cost to us. 

Dedicate a tree