Tree establishment should replace tree planting in government targets, experts have said.
Billions of pounds of taxpayer money could be being wasted planting trees that end up dying because government tree targets are focused on planting rather than survival, they argued, amid concern that saplings were dying because they are often neglected.
Under the current system, scores of trees could be planted that are not then adequately monitored or looked after, but would count towards targets even if they died before maturity. This, the experts said, puts the UK’s net zero strategy and biodiversity targets at risk, as they rely on a vast expansion of woodland for carbon sequestration.
Speaking at the Royal Horticultural Society autumn conference, Tony Kirkham, former head of arboretum at Kew Gardens, said: “The target is for tree planting, I believe it should be for tree establishment. It shouldn’t be about targets for planting a number of trees it should be establishing trees. We can all plant a million trees, but will they be alive five years down the line and that’s what the problem is.”
In the government’s environmental improvement plan, published earlier this year, ministers committed to increase tree cover in England by 34,000 hectares (84,000 acres) by 31 January 2028 and increase tree canopy and woodland cover from 14.5% to 16.5% of total land area in England by 2050. This target is unlikely to be met if large numbers of saplings die, scientists have warned.
The 2019 manifesto also included a commitment to plant 30,000 hectares of trees every year across the UK by 2025.
Sara Loom, the CEO of the Tree Council, said: “We don’t currently know enough about tree survival, the data is really patchy. There’s some really hard economic reasons as well for tree establishment. The government target is 30,000 hectares of trees planted a year over the next 30 years. That’s 900,000 hectares at 1,000 trees per hectare. That’s a billion trees. Say it costs £11 to plant and care for each tree. That’s a budget of £11bn. So increasing survival by just 5, 10, 15% – just do the maths.”
There are fears among experts that trees planted to meet government targets will never reach maturity as there are not trained experts visiting them to water them.
Kirkham explained: “I do think that the chance is that many of the trees we plant will never reach that maturity but so what we need to do before we start tree planting is work out tree-planting budget for aftercare. And I think lots of trees are planted and then the next contractor comes along, doesn’t look after them and they die. It’s not rocket science – most of the time a tree dies because it needed a drink.”
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: “Tree-planting rates are at their highest for a decade, but we know there is more to do and will continue to work with partners to increase the nation’s tree cover. We have invested significantly in woodland management with multiple grants in place to assist landowners and managers in establishing newly planted trees and many of these are dependent on recipients providing evidence of tree survival.”
