Tree planting has been the most common woodland expansion strategy in the UK for many decades. Despite its many benefits, this approach is increasingly being questioned following overestimates of benefits, poor targeting and challenges in scaling-up at the level required to meet ambitious woodland expansion targets. As a result, there is growing interest in incorporating ‘natural colonisation’ (allowing trees to colonise new areas naturally, often as a component of ‘rewilding’) into woodland expansion strategies, partly because it is assumed that naturally created woodlands will be more structurally diverse, ecologically complex and resilient than planted sites.
In this interdisciplinary project (funded by UKRI through their Treescapes programme) we will explore the attitudes of a diverse range of agricultural land managers towards woodland creation strategies spanning the planting to natural colonisation continuum. We will also quantify the differing ecological and social consequences of these approaches, and identify factors associated with woodland resilience. Finally, we will integrate socio-ecological evidence to demonstrate how tree planting and natural colonisation can be used in combination to scale-up woodland expansion for a range of objectives on agricultural land. Watch intro video about the project here.
In this interdisciplinary project (funded by UKRI through their Treescapes programme) we will explore the attitudes of a diverse range of agricultural land managers towards woodland creation strategies spanning the planting to natural colonisation continuum. We will also quantify the differing ecological and social consequences of these approaches, and identify factors associated with woodland resilience. Finally, we will integrate socio-ecological evidence to demonstrate how tree planting and natural colonisation can be used in combination to scale-up woodland expansion for a range of objectives on agricultural land. Watch intro video about the project here.
Overview of work planned for the TreE_PlaNat project, including work packages (WPs). WP1 (yellow) focuses on understanding the perceptions of a diversity of agricultural land managers for a range of objectives; WP2 (blue) assesses the outcomes of such woodland creation approaches; WP3 (green) integrates knowledge derived from WP1 & 2 with the aim to influence land managers’ engagement with woodland creation through a combination of planting and natural colonisation
One of our sites in England with a degree of natural colonisation to the east (indicated by the red line)
Contributors to this project
University of Stirling, University of Edinburgh, Royal Holloway, University of London, Forest Research, The National Forest Company, The Woodland Trust, NatureScot, Forestry Commission UK, LEAF, Natural England and Tarmac
University of Stirling, University of Edinburgh, Royal Holloway, University of London, Forest Research, The National Forest Company, The Woodland Trust, NatureScot, Forestry Commission UK, LEAF, Natural England and Tarmac