If you’ve heard the term ‘tree champion’ in recent news, you might be wondering what that is. This new work has a responsibility to increase yields for our forests and city trees.
Did you know that England is running out of oaks? This is a serious problem. The last oaks planted by the Victorians are now being harvested, but we have not planted enough since then to meet future needs. Our current solution is to import more from America and Europe. We’re all out of oak!
This is one of the reasons the government has appointed a ‘tree champion’ who will lead a campaign to plant 11 million new trees and protect our existing urban forests, forests and greenery.
The job title and big responsibility has been given to Sir William Worsley, current chairman of the National Forest Company. He is also the former head of the Country Land and Business Association, representing the interests of rural businesses and landowners.
Trees used to be a major factor in our economic success. Most of the Magna Carta is entirely dedicated to forest rights and when the navy began building their global empire, oaks trees were essential. Millions of our homes are built using wood from our land. In fact, the Forestry Commission was formed after the First World War in response to the need for wood to build houses and to provide jobs for returning soldiers. For taking good care and maintenance of the trees on your property, consider a Tree Surgeon Poole like kieranboylandtreeservices.com
Now, only 13% of Britain is home to forests. This is sad compared to the European average of 30%. We don’t make enough wood to meet our needs so the rest must be imported. There has not been sufficient protection of our forests from the invasion of commercial property built on it. There is also little protection available for existing trees that are in short supply or at risk. That is why the plan to plant 11 million trees and 1 million in urban areas seems difficult but absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, despite government incentives, the rate of new forests planted remains low in the UK. Tree planting will always remain commercially unpopular while agricultural land and housing development demand such high prices.
Our new ‘tree champion’ needs to know how much forest Britain has because information about tree cover is unreliable and at best vague. There is also little protection for ancient trees, whether it is on public or private land. The difficulty of this task lies in the fact that without knowing the current state of affairs, it is almost impossible to measure success.
