Woodland Trust chief delivers stark warning as charity publishes emergency tree plan for the UK

Woodland Trust chief delivers stark warning as charity publishes emergency tree plan for the UK - Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust today publishes 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: “As the chief executive of the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity I’m acutely aware that we start 2020 with more woods under threat from destruction than any other time in history. 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. Today we launch our Emergency Tree Plan, which 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.”

Read the Emergency Tree Plan here