New research suggests there may be more effective ways to restore Britain’s woodlands than purely focusing on new plantations.
Led by Dr Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor, Senior Lecturer in Nature-Based Solutions at the University of Stirling’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, a number of ecological factors show ‘natural colonisation’ should one combined with mass tree planting to create and expand forests.
The approach centres on encouraging trees to colonise new areas naturally, without the need for targeted planting. Findings from a number of researchers and practitioners were compiled alongside 15 case studies to show how the more nature-based method won out in many examples, offering greater ecological and societal benefits.
In response, the National Forest Company, which is already a project partner on the work, has announced it will begin developing a new range of grants for forest creation. These emphasise the importance of giving land managers more flexibility and choice to use hybrid approaches.
Despite many benefits, tree planting is increasingly being questioned following overestimates of the positive impact that it can have, as well as challenges in scaling-up at the level required to meet ambitious government woodland expansion targets,’ said project lead Dr Fuentes-Montemayor. ‘Consequently, there is growing interest in incorporating natural colonisation – either alone or in combination with tree planting – into woodland expansion strategies.’
Despite the positive evidence, Dr Fuentes-Montemayor was keen to point out there remains uncertainty around the long-term outcome of natural colonisation, and the ecological processes this involves. However, project investigations involving interdisciplinary skillsets have revealed situations in which this method is unlikely to be successful on its own, helping guide policymakers towards multilateral approaches.
Hybrid efforts, for example, were shown to be more biodiversity rich, and had greater values in terms of forest growth and structural complexity. Funded by UKRI’s Future of UK Treescapes Programme, the TreE PlaNat project ran for 30 months, included data from 28 woodland creations sites, interviews and online surveys featuring more than 500 people.
Image: Matt Palmer / Unsplash
More Biodiversity, Climate Change, Nature & Sustainability:
8 countries commit to Brazil-led farmland restoration accelerator at COP30
Natural England wants to become ‘essential partner for economic growth’