Tree Council Trees and Woodland Strategy Toolkit 2022

TREES AND WOODLAND STRATEGY TOOLKIT

Step-by-step guidance for local action

Foreword

Foreword

This Government has set out ambitious plans to reverse the tide of nature loss, to tackle climate change and protect our water and soils. By helping nature to recover, we want to improve the health and wellbeing of communities across England. Trees, woodlands, hedges and orchards are central to these plans. In May 2021, we published the England Trees Action Plan (ETAP), setting out the actions Government and its partners will take to support unprecedented levels of tree planting, creating diverse treescapes across the country which benefit the environment, people and the economy. The ETAP highlights the need to protect and improve our trees and woodlands, and connect people with trees so they can enjoy the many benefits they provide.

Action at local and regional levels is crucial to achieving this national ambition for our treescapes, so we are supporting Local Authorities to take action for trees. We are providing resource to accelerate local plans for tree and woodland planting through our Woodland Creation Accelerator Fund. We’re also providing funding to plant new trees through our England Woodland Creation Offer, Urban Tree Challenge Fund and the Local Authority Treescapes Fund which supports tree planting and natural regeneration in non-woodland areas.

I feel strongly that action for trees at a local level must be deliberate, focused and strategic, learning from best practice. That is why Defra and the Forestry Commission have been working closely with The Tree Council to develop this toolkit for Local Authorities to provide support in developing their own Trees and Woodland Strategies. This toolkit provides an in-depth guide to developing and delivering a strategy. It explains how to build the political and community support that is vital to ensure that trees and woodlands are planted and protected.

I’m delighted to endorse this toolkit launched during National Tree Week 2022 and I look forward to following its use and to seeing it help Local Authorities in developing ambitious strategies for their local trees and woodlands.

Trudy Harrison MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Natural Environment and Land Use)

Introduction

Why do local authorities need a Trees and Woodland Strategy?

A collective response is urgently needed to the global environmental challenges created by biodiversity loss and climate change. Nearly three quarters of local authorities have declared Climate Emergencies. The Environment Act has mandated the creation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) to drive nature recovery and environmental benefits. Strategically trees should play an important role in a local authority’s response to both challenges.

The England Trees Action Plan published by Government in 2021 sets out the central role trees should play in achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Trees and woodland are a cost-effective solution to both the climate and nature recovery agendas, providing economic, environmental and social benefits.

National ambitions for enhancing and protecting our treescape can only be met through local action. Local authorities, at every tier, are best placed to provide local leadership, coordinating inclusive and collaborative community engagement and involving multiple stakeholders. However, currently just over a third of local authorities have any form of strategic document that can guide the planting and management of the treescape – and many of these are in need of updating.

Developing a Tree and Woodland Strategy (TAWS) will help local authorities and treescape stakeholders to harness this national momentum, in a way that aligns with local needs.

Developing a strategy for your trees and woodlands will enable planning for future resilience of the treescape.

What is a Trees and Woodland Strategy?

A Trees and Woodland Strategy (TAWS) sets out a vision for how a local treescape will be managed now and for the future. It acts as an essential go-to reference for local stakeholders, including different tiers of local government, landowners and managers, planners, developers and environmental agencies for both public and private land.

A local Trees and Woodland Strategy should complement local authority activities relating to Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Net Zero responses. It could also be adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) that sits under a Local Plan to conserve and enhance that aspect of the natural and historic environment (See page 39-40).

In every region, there are multiple agencies, organisations, groups and individuals with roles in managing trees and woodlands, and many other passionate people who want to improve the environment. Working together to agree a vision and strategic priorities for the local treescape, while taking account of the national and regional context, can ensure that desired outcomes are achieved for all, and that money and effort spent on trees have maximum impact. To be most effective, a TAWS should set the direction for the whole treescape (see box, right).

The ultimate aim of a TAWS is to help local stakeholders to protect, grow and manage a healthy and resilient treescape across public and private land, to meet the needs of local people and help the natural environment to recover, adapt and thrive. The process of developing and implementing the strategy can bring together multiple stakeholders, to plan and deliver greater tree planting to meet both local and national objectives. It will also instil greater cohesion in tree management and care across organisations and communities.

What do we mean by ’treescape’?

The term ‘treescape’ is used here to encompass all trees within a given area, whether that be a town, a city, a county, or a wider landscape. It includes individual trees, hedgerows, orchards and woodlands, and those that grow on private land as well as land owned or managed by local authorities or other public bodies. The term ‘treescape’ is intended to recognise the connectivity between trees and emphasise that managing them in a ‘joined-up’ manner can improve outcomes.

From tree policy to tree strategy

With the growing interest in trees and woodlands, there has been a flurry of different approaches to developing policy on trees at local authority level and, unsurprisingly, these have taken a variety of names and forms. Some of these approaches are more prescriptive than others – for example, a tree policy can be a very general term while an Urban Forest Master Plan details a very specific approach.

Tree strategies can be built on top of several management policies that might already have political support.

For the purposes of this toolkit, our position is that, to avoid sitting on a dusty shelf, an effective Trees and Woodland Strategy needs to have:

• a vision for the future of the treescape

• a structured approach to engaging with stakeholders

• a monitoring and evaluating process.

Links to existing local authority strategies

Many local authorities have existing trees and woodland strategies, too many to include in detail in this toolkit. Visit The Tree Council’s website for a more comprehensive list from which you can draw inspiration.

In addition, a TAWS should have an evidence-based action plan with measurable targets that details delivery with timescales and responsibilities. We have used the term ‘Trees and Woodland Strategy’ (TAWS) in this toolkit for consistency, but what your document is called locally is up to you.

One third of local authorities have some form of tree strategy or plan but many are now reviewing or updating their documents, or even starting again from scratch, in light of relevant new national ambitions, policies and funding opportunities.

As an example, prior to 2012, Fareham Borough Council had a tree policy in place. However, to emphasise the need for cross-department working on trees, and in response to potentially costly challenges, such as ash dieback, the council decided to develop and implement a stronger tree strategy.

Now, the council is in the process of reviewing and updating the tree strategy, with a view to covering a longer time period. The new strategy will also reflect changes in national policy and the increased public awareness of climate change.

How this toolkit can help

This toolkit brings together the collective thoughts of many of those experienced in producing tree strategies. With an emphasis on practical advice, the toolkit provides a diverse range of examples from local authorities across England, showing how Trees and Woodland Strategies have been created and implemented, spanning rural and urban contexts. For a brief introduction to our case studies, please click here.

The toolkit describes the phases or steps required to develop a comprehensive, evidence-based Trees and Woodland Strategy tailored to the local context. This is explained throughout the document using case studies to provide real-world examples, and there is a wealth of additional material included in the case study links. They highlight differing contexts including geography, drivers behind the decision to produce a strategy, and the make-up of the team working on it. Additional resources and existing guidance are provided in the appendices.

The toolkit is not prescriptive, but rather designed to provide a framework and share knowledge and insights into how a Trees and Woodland Strategy can be produced. Each user can take the information relevant to them and move forward with a strong understanding of current practices. It is also intended to be a living document and, as such, it will be updated to reflect emerging ideas and innovation.

The diagram (right) sets out how to use this toolkit. Research has shown us that organisations and individuals will be at different stages of a journey to create a TAWS. Therefore, the toolkit is set out in sections, so that users can jump to the most appropriate starting point according to their circumstances.

• Define a project brief 1. Get started

• Secure line management and political support for a TAWS, including initial funding

• Identify stakeholders

• Assemble a team

• What to include 2. Develop your strategy

• Gather the evidence

• Create a shared vision

• Set effective targets

• Monitor and evaluate 3. Deliver your strategy

• Find funding

• Develop an action plan

• Consult and engage

Phase Getting started on your strategy 1

Phase

Phase 1 Getting started on your strategy

This section outlines the key elements that will lay the foundations for a successful strategy, that has buy-in from the individuals and groups who will provide expertise, skills, resources and people power. Local authorities should tailor their TAWS development to local contexts and policies, which will dictate how the start-up phase is implemented.

1.1 Making the case for a TAWS

Finding the resources to begin a Trees and Woodland Strategy process can be challenging. Depending on your role, you and your team may need to unlock support from senior managers or decision makers to obtain the resources required to embark on the development of a strategy. This may include making the case to the councillors, the chief executive, or a variety of departmental heads, e.g. environment, planning, public health and highways. Cross-departmental buyin and participation will be vital to the success of the strategy. A benefit of political backing is that the path to adoption of a strategy is likely to be smoother and faster – without such support it can be more difficult to achieve – see Surrey Case Study

Demonstrate how a TAWS could benefit your local authority by:

• providing a framework for a healthy treescape – a TAWS provides a positive longterm vision for a healthy treescape including good tree management and protection and should be linked to a Local Nature Recovery Strategy, to improve biodiversity in your area.

• highlighting the value of treescapes as a social, environmental and economic asset to boost the local economy (see Appendix B.1)

• unlocking new funding opportunities for tree planting and aftercare, from both central government (such as the Nature for Climate Fund) and from private finance (i.e. sponsorship, carbon credits, biodiversity net gain, etc) or from charitable funding (i.e. The Tree Council, Woodland Trust, etc)

• identifying examples where Trees and Woodland Strategies have been successful and a catalyst for positive change (see Fareham Case Study)

• unlocking the resources (both skills and finances) to manage your existing amenity trees and woodlands to maximise the value of the treescape

• including key evidence of the links to national and local policy to convince budget holders to mobilise resources

• highlighting how more strategic management could deliver improved outcomes for the local authority, particularly of public health and safety

• effective collaboration and partnership working with stakeholders, both internal and external, demonstrating broad local interest, commitment and resources

• explaining to budget holders that practical help and expert advice may be available at no cost to the local authority from local community groups and external organisations. Central government has committed more than £675 million over the coming years to the Nature for Climate Fund. The increased availability of funding is a result of Government’s manifesto commitment to treble tree planting rates in England and recognition of the role trees play in mitigating climate change in the UK net zero strategy. At a local level trees will also make a positive contribution to many of your local policies and services, as illustrated in Table 1

Local authorities need to be prepared to maximise current opportunities, including securing additional funding, in a strategic way – see West of England Case Study

Local authority services Relevant benefits of trees

Adult social care and health services

Children’s services

Leisure and cultural services

Environmental services

Highways, roads and transport

• Wellbeing and mental health

• Physical health

Housing

Planning and development

Protective services

• Equal access to the environment

• Green jobs

• Wellbeing and mental health

• Physical health

• Educational opportunities

• Environmental equity

• Tourism

• Recreational values and opportunities

• Cultural and intrinsic value of trees

• Improved flood resilience and cooling

• Improved air quality

• Reduced soil erosion and water pollution

• Carbon sequestration and storage

• Improved biodiversity

• Enhanced and restored historic landscapes

• Strategically planted and well-managed trees pose fewer risks

• Improved flood resilience and cooling

• Improved air quality

• Enhanced landscape character and sense of place

• Improved flood resilience and cooling

• Environmental equity

• Enhanced landscape character and sense of place

• Creating healthy and attractive places to live

• Property values

• Land stabilisation

• Green jobs

• Conservation benefits

• Climate change resilience

• Air quality

• Crime prevention Table 1: Benefits of trees to local authority services and policies

• Conserve and enhance biodiversity and habitat connectivity

• Carbon sequestration and storage

• Meeting good design standards

• Contribute to sustainable communities and access to green infrastructure

• Attracting inward investment

• Enhanced landscape character and sense of place

• Drainage and flood risk mitigation

• Land remediation and pollution control

• Strategically planted and well-managed trees pose fewer risks

• Improved flood resilience and cooling

1.2 Assembling a team

It is likely that you will need to engage a wide range of colleagues early on in your strategy development. To achieve best results, you will need to structure your colleagues’ involvement carefully and define the roles and expectations.

How to assemble a strategy working group

There are a range of different models for this – one example involves assembling an internal ‘working group’ or ‘task group’ within your local authority, of those actively involved in developing the strategy, preferably from multiple departments ideally with some allocated resource or budget.

Depending upon where you sit within your organisation, you will need to engage both colleagues and decision makers, but the order of this engagement will vary within each local authority. The two audiences may require different approaches:

• Budget holders and decision makers: Securing political buy-in is critical to getting the strategy supported and implemented. Emphasise the multiple benefits of trees (see Appendix B.1) and their value in relation to climate change adaptation, nature recovery, health, wellbeing and more.

• Colleagues and other departments: Consult colleagues in your own department and other departments in your LA such as highways, planning, estates and education sites, health, historic environments, rights of way or countryside access and so on see Table 1 for examples of the relevance of trees to various local authority services). Engage them by presenting the benefits of a Tree and Woodland Strategy at cross-departmental meetings, emphasising new ways of working that align with the strategy’s objectives.

Once you have identified colleagues from within the authority, include a limited number of critical external stakeholders – see Section 1.4. Roles could include data collation and analysis, writing, editing and reviewing sections of the document or liaison with the community.

Recommendations for effective collaboration

While assembling a team may suggest significant benefits, bringing people together to work effectively can also present challenges, including resourcing and time management issues as well as conflicts of personalities and priorities. Any potential challenges are likely to be highly situational, but we do suggest an approach to forming a working group that should mitigate some issues could be as follows:

1. Keep a core, focused working group

2. Agree the TAWS project group’s aims

3. Agree how differences will be resolved in a collegiate manner

4. Form any necessary sub-groups

1.3 Defining the brief

Next, prepare and agree a detailed project brief. This can be a very simple statement of intent detailing the outputs that will be produced. This should ensure that everyone’s expectations are aligned, which is useful for ongoing project management and in resolving potential future conflicts.

Consider whether your strategy will include the whole treescape – a broad approach – or only the trees managed by your authority – a narrow approach. A benefit of developing a ‘broad’ overarching strategy is the opportunity to move towards joined-up treescape planning, decision making and management, across both public and private land.

As a working group, consider the following questions to help form the brief:

What are the likely risks to delivery? How will these be mitigated?

What is within scope of the strategy? What type of document will be produced?

Who will publish it? When will it be delivered?

Strategy brief

What are key milestones? What external resources or skills might be needed (e.g. graphic designer)?

Who will have oversight from a project management perspective?

Is the intention to seek formal adoption by the LA?

Who are the core team, and what are their responsibilities?

1.4 Identifying stakeholders

As the treescape is owned, managed, and influenced by many individuals and groups, it is important to consider how to engage a range of stakeholders both within the local authority and those external to it.

At the outset, map out who the relevant stakeholders are, what their priorities may be and what they can bring to the creation of a TAWS. You may already have good links with relevant stakeholders or with organisations who have networks of their own that you can leverage. The P.E.S.T.L.E approach (engaging Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental groups) is a useful method of identifying and mapping stakeholders and there are high-quality published guides on public engagement available (see Appendix B.4).

External Stakeholders

Local Community:

• Residents groups

• Local landowners

• Local businesses

Local Government: County, borough, district and parish councils

Critical Friends:

• Community Forests

• Local Wildlife Trust

• Forestry Commission

• Local Nature Partnership

• Neighbourhood forums

Trees and Woodland Strategy Stakeholders

Internal Stakeholders

Local Authority Departments:

• Tree officers

• Planning

• Highways

• Risk management

• Press office

• Claims department

Elected Members: Local councillors

Effective external engagement and collaboration will enable the local stakeholders to play an active role in shaping and caring for their treescape. These positive relationships will make it easier to track the impact of activities such as tree planting and allow the mobilisation of volunteer groups in a coordinated way.

A) Neighbouring authorities and other tiers of local government

Collaborating with neighbouring or other tiers of authorities (e.g. county/district/parish) whilst creating a TAWS can achieve greater outcomes by improving landscape scale impacts on treescapes, including better connectivity and resilience. With the development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) there will also have to be more collaboration because of the geographical areas covered by LNRS. The maps produced for LNRS will specifically identify areas where the creation or improvement of habitat would provide greatest benefit for nature and the wider environment, including proposals for tree planting. These maps should be linked to your TAWS.

B) Local communities, charities and businesses

The delivery of joined-up treescape management depends on the support and cooperation of key local stakeholders, including volunteer groups who can grow, plant and care for trees.

As your strategy is developed, don’t forget to engage less knowledgeable or influential stakeholders. Under-represented groups within society may greatly benefit from environmental improvements as a result of the strategy and are an important voice (see Section 3.3).

There are also many rural businesses that benefit from, and depend on, the sustainable management of trees and woodlands, including hedge-layers, coppice workers, horse-loggers, tree nurseries, saw mills and firewood suppliers. These are often small and medium sized enterprises whose voices are rarely heard, and can be direct beneficiaries of a TAWS while contributing towards a more sustainable local economy, improved waste management and the creation of green jobs (e.g. Small Woods Association).

Local Nature Recovery Strategies

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are a mandatory requirement under the Environment Act 2021, whereby the government will appoint responsible authorities (often likely to be at a county level) to develop a LNRS for a specified geographic area. There will be around 50 areas, covering the entire country. An LNRS will agree priorities and map proposed actions for nature recovery and nature-based solutions for other environmental goals, with the responsible authority working collaboratively with stakeholders to agree these priorities.

A TAWS will be complementary to the LNRS, providing focus, expertise and detail relating to tree and woodland aspects of the LNRS, with similar ambitions for nature and biodiversity recovery, but possibly include issues related to trees and woodlands that are out of scope of LNRS. Similar people may be involved in the development and delivery of both, so there are great opportunities for efficiencies and close alignment.

C) Landowners

Finding suitable and sufficient space to plant trees and expand woodlands can be challenging and local landowners are key to this. This can include large and small, rural and urban, private landowners and in some cases tenants; housing associations; highway authorities or land-owning charities. Consider hosting landowner engagement events to understand their views on where planting could take place, any constraints, and to enthuse them about planting opportunities. There are funding schemes available to landowners, such as the Forestry Commission’s England Woodland Creation Offer, that can help deliver a strategy’s objectives, and provide financial support to those landowners.

D) Regional tree planting initiatives

Working with regional tree planting initiatives such as Community Forests who seek to engage urban populations in nature by linking existing trees and woodlands with new planting. This is championed by the Community Forest Trust and England’s Community Forests, as well as other third sector organisations, and stakeholders and groups local to each setting. In this toolkit, the case studies on Leeds, Wirral and the West of England help showcase the achievements of the White Rose, Mersey and Forest of Avon Community Forests respectively.

Engaging with the local community e.g. volunteer Tree Wardens.

Phase 1: Getting

1.5 Practical guidance for public engagement

Different methods of engagement may be necessary to suit local circumstances throughout the development and delivery of TAWS to ensure meaningful engagement with a wide range of audiences. These will need to sit within a strategic and comprehensive public engagement process plan.

Forest Research have published several tools and resources to help. These resources include a useful summary of the principles of public engagement and key lessons from public engagement in the urban context.

Table 2: Tools to consider in public engagement

Engagement tools*

Focus groups

One-to-one contact

Drop-in days

Site visits

Working groups

Workshops

Surveys – online or in-person

*Adapted from Forest Research 2011

How these could be used in TAWS

To gauge views on key proposals or ideas for the TAWS, a selected group could be invited to discuss proposals prior to more extensive consultation.

Engaging with key individuals could provide a gateway to other useful contacts and help plan further engagement. This can become timeconsuming, so should be targeted.

The TAWS team could host a drop-in day where proposals are displayed, and the team is on hand to discuss with any interested members of the public.

Site visits can give context and meaning to discussions – these might be useful in gaining a deeper understanding of how key stakeholders feel about trees in the landscape.

Small groups could be formed to tackle specific issues or themes. Working groups would usually comprise key stakeholders with some knowledge or relevance to that issue. A chairperson could report findings to the TAWS core team.

Workshops are a well-established method of drawing out perspectives on key themes and you could use these to co-develop ideas with public representatives. Workshops may require a specialist facilitator.

Useful when trying to reach a higher number of people and obtain evidence on public responses to proposals, and can help establish the feasibility of proposed targets that need widespread public in-volvement. Skills and experience in survey design and analysis would be required.

Delivering a combination of in-person activities and digital engagement could widen participation; the RTPI has published a report with recommendations regarding digital engagement.

The risks of poor public engagement

Public engagement can become resource-intensive and may be outside the core skill set of a Tree Officer or arboricultural team. Some common risks to be aware of are shown below, along with some tips for mitigating these and getting the best from public engagement.

Risk Possible mitigation

Over-representation of some groups and underrepresentation of others could limit effectiveness of the TAWS, as the perspectives of the whole community would not be understood.

• Understand your local community demographics; seek input from relevant local authority colleagues.

• Use a range of engagement methods – repeatedly doing the same thing will likely only attract the same audience.

• Look for opportunities to tie in with existing community events and local publications.

• Make it fun – host activities in a park or town centre for families that allow for informal discussion about what they want for their future treescape.

Limited scope to act on public views could lead to disengagement or reduced buy-in to TAWS.

Lack of resources (financial and skills) restricts scope of activities.

• Clearly communicate the scope of each exercise and explain how the participants views will influence the TAWS.

• Look for opportunities where public views can realistically have a strong influence.

• Make the case for a budget for public engagement, as this could be critical to achieving the Local Authority’s objectives.

• Seek advice from colleagues with experience in public consultation or community engagement. Can they help you plan and deliver activities?

• Look for organisations and existing networks who may be willing to provide support. E.g. volunteer Tree Wardens may be able to disseminate leaflets or co-host activities like tree walks that give opportunities for engagement.

Stakeholder fatigue –repetitious or onerous engagement activities are likely to have reduced participation over time.

• Work out what you want to achieve through public engagement and plan the best points in the process to deliver the chosen activities.

• Involve local representatives in the engagement planning – they can act as a useful sounding board before engaging a wider audience.

Table 3: Common risks in public engagement

Community engagement in practice

The following case studies highlight the range of approaches taken when engaging wider stakeholders to support the ‘working group’. This could include assembling an ‘oversight committee’ or ‘advisory group’ to support the core working group, and can involve political champions, community representatives, specialist interest groups (e.g. Tree Warden networks), and technical or academic advisors. In addition, public consultations, e.g. through an online survey, can be used to gain wider input. Examples of how this has been done are shown in these case studies:

• Birmingham’s Urban Forest Master Plan came to life thanks to the third sector group Birmingham Trees for Life who reported that the city’s treescape was in decline. The Council responded by creating a cross-party group to shape future policy. Their review of the evidence led to the 2018 Birmingham Tree Policy report. Birmingham Tree People then identified the next steps required to implement and develop this policy, and so were subcontracted to create the Urban Forest Master Plan in close concert with the Council and Treeconomics, along with other experts and stakeholders.

• Leeds City Council’s strategy was led by the Sustainable Energy and Air Quality team with input from forestry, planners, asset management, parks and countryside and others.

• In the spring of 2022, Surrey County Council held a landowner engagement event to discuss their newly published Tree Strategy. They were seeking opportunities for new planting sites to support their 1.2 million tree planting target. Topics at the event included funding and support for farmers and landowners, the positive impact of trees, getting started with woodland creation and drop-in advice clinics. The case study includes a review of the event’s findings and learnings.

• The Wirral’s Trees, Hedgerow and Woodland Strategy was developed by a partnership of the Borough Council and the Wirral Initiative on Trees (WIT), which is a forum of Wirral based community groups, including: Wirral Tree Wardens, Conservation Areas Wirral, Cheshire Wildlife Trust, the Urban Beekeepers Association, and others. WIT also drew on the support of The Tree Council and Forest Research. Involving key stakeholders that involve the community can help ensure that the strategy is tailored to suit local priorities.

Phase Developing the strategy 2

Phase 2 Developing the strategy

To successfully develop a TAWS, its content needs to be tailored to your local context. This can be achieved by gathering the evidence about your treescape, to allow the development of a shared vision for the future. Once the vision is collectively agreed, linking this to local and national policies will allow effective targets to be set and delivered.

2.1 What to include in your Trees and Woodland Strategy

Trees and Woodland Strategies can be developed by all tiers of local authorities, from parish to county council, and, as such, the content of a TAWS will need to be tailored to the local context incorporating existing local policies and guidance. Before you begin, find out whether other tree strategies or policies which cover your area already exist. For example, if you are developing a strategy as a district council, check whether your county council already has their own and then consider how to align the two.

The aim of a ‘broad’ strategy is to provide a strategic oversight across a whole treescape, ideally including both public and private land (see page 24) for the key elements that make up the UK treescape). It can also help deliver environmental goals of extent, connectivity, diversity and condition as set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the England Trees Action Plan

Surrey County Council have set out ambitious planting targets in their TAWS.

Your strategy should include a long-term vision as well as a focus on targets and delivery. You will need to consider not only your planting targets but also the management and protection of the existing treescape. Other considerations include your legal obligations, plant biosecurity, community engagement, street trees, trees in parks, advice on woodland creation, tree and hedge planting and aftercare, and more. You may need to create some additional documents to support these.

Phase 2: Developing the

The TAWS should detail how progress against targets will be tracked and evaluated, and when it will be reviewed for potential updates and revisions.

It is also advisable to report back to stakeholders regularly on progress including on-going collaboration and any overlap and links with other policy deliverables such as Local Nature Recovery Strategies. This should help ensure that the strategy continues to be active, relevant and co-owned by multiple stakeholders. This is discussed in more detail and with examples, in Section 3.3

Elements of the UK treescape*

Source: Forestry Commission, Woodland Trust, National Trust

1,637,100 ha commercial conifer forests

1,511,700 ha hedgerows and other woody linear features **

821,870 ha ancient and long-established planted woodland

751,030 ha other native broadleaf woodland

390,000 ha small woodlands (between 0.1 – 0.5 ha)

278,004 ha wood pasture

255,000 ha groups of trees (less than 0.1 ha)

97,000 ha lone trees (over 2-3 m tall)

43,017 ha orchards

* These numbers do not include reference to the number of urban trees in gardens, streets, parks, schools and churchyards etc – an important part of the UK’s treescape but for which no comparable data exists.

** Calculated by The Tree Council from UKCEH published data on the extent of woody linear features in Countryside Survey 2007 (700,000 km) and average hedgerow width(s) in CS2007 (unpublished data)

l Commercial conifer forests

l Hedges and other linear features

l Ancient and long-established woodlands

l Other native broadleaf woodlands

l Small woodlands

l Wood pasture

l Groups of trees

l Lone trees

l Orchards

The contents of a TAWS will differ across different localities and treescapes and have taken different approaches, especially around the tone, presentation and what to include in the main text versus technical appendices (see Table 4). The case studies below highlight some different approaches.

• Wirral’s Tree, Hedgerow and Woodland Strategy (2020-2030) addresses the purpose, coverage and governance of the strategy, before moving onto specific management topics including tree locations and targets, risk assessments, ancient and veteran trees, felling, TPOs, legislation, development and more. The following section covers planning future tree stock, including what to plant, different locations and types of planting, procurement, supply chains and biosecurity, staff resources, funding and public engagement, with the final section focusing specifically on hedges. The appendices cover tree benefits and relevant legislation, CAVAT (Capital Asset Valuation of Amenity Trees), and the approaches taken to identifying the ‘right trees’ for the ‘right places’ and responding to ash dieback.

• The White Rose Forest Strategy for Leeds (2020-2050) opens with a vision and a ‘strategy in a page’ overview, before introducing the White Rose Forest project as a whole. The strategy is structured around key questions around the benefits of trees, identifying locations for tree planting and woodland creation, protecting trees, community engagement, delivery and actions. This includes discussion of tree cover, land use, a tree planting planning tool, TPOs, felling, national and local policy, development, pests and diseases, carbon sequestration, flood alleviation, urban cooling, replacement strategy, council services and funding.

• Birmingham’s Urban Forest Masterplan (2021-2051) starts with a vision before outlining targets, progress indicators and actions, ranging from mapping canopy cover and potential growing sites to considering TPOs, street trees, risk assessment, biosecurity, green waste utilisation and community engagement (see Appendix B3 for more detail and the research this approach is based on). Each topic is approached in the same way and with roughly the same level of detail, and the focus on indicators and actions means that it will be easier to revisit the Masterplan in coming years to evaluate progress against its wider aims.

Hedgerows are a vital part of the treescape and should be included in a TAWS.

Table 4: A checklist to help you decide what to include in your strategy

Element Questions for discussion

• What is the geographic area covered by the TAWS?

• Will it include both publicly owned and private land? Have you mapped your existing trees?

• How would you characterise the area? What are some key features of the landscape?

• How do you plan to manage your existing and future trees?

Context

• Are there any types of trees, woodlands and habitats that are common or significant? How has this changed over time? E.g. fruit trees, orchards and hedges

• Are there areas or habitats where trees should NOT be planted?

• What is the relationship between local communities and trees and woodlands?

• Why are trees important to local residents and businesses?

• What resources do you have in place (both skills and finances) to manage both your amenity trees and woodlands, as the two require different skill sets? See Box p45.

• What key national policies influence the treescape? See Appendix C

• How does local treescape management link to national objectives?

Will your strategy help with:

a) Increased extent of trees and woods (canopy cover targets, identifying available planting space on all local authority land holdings, retaining what’s there i.e. use of Tree Preservation Orders)

b) Better connected trees and woods (identifying green infrastructure (GI) corridors, linear tree networks and GI island reservoirs for wildlife)

c) Increased resilience to climate change, pests and diseases through increased diversity and improved condition of treescapes (tree species selection and increasing age range diversity of the tree stock to respond to climate change, pest and disease management, protections for ancient woodlands and ancient and veteran trees).

National policies

Local policies

d) Improved access to trees and woods (engagement with communities, publicity and communications, opportunities to increase permission and permanent access including open access policies for local authority owned sites, improved access infrastructure (e.g. signage)

e) Supporting forest and tree-based industries (timber and associated products, silvicultural and arboricultural service companies, support green jobs)

f) Protecting and enhancing the historic environment (identifying historic monuments and heritage assets)

• More info on this can be found in Section 2.4 and Appendix C

• What national/global challenges may impact the local treescape? E.g. climate change, pests and diseases, tree related building damage insurance claims.

• How can the TAWS ensure that local action contributes to overcoming national challenges?

• Does it include opportunities for green employment, e.g. apprenticeships?

• What key local policies influence the treescape?

For example, planning, heritage, climate change, biodiversity, health, rights of way improvement plans and existing tree management policies.

• How do trees help the local authority deliver their policies?

• More info on this can be found in Section 2.4

• What local challenges may threaten the local treescape and your ability to achieve your aspiration?

For example, development pressure, tree related building damage insurance claims, socio-economic inequality, lack of publicly owned greenspaces.

• Will those challenges be addressed in the TAWS?

Element Questions for discussion

Vision

Baseline evidence

Targets

Action plan

Monitoring and review

Collaboration and engagement

Financial cycles and budgets

• What is your long-term aspiration for the treescape in the area?

• How can trees improve the lives of those living in the area?

• How can more trees help meet biodiversity and climate change targets?

• What is the collective hope for the treescape in the future?

• What quantitative and qualitative data do you have relevant to trees?

• What does the existing evidence base tell you about your treescape?

• Do you have gaps in the data?

• How will you work to improve your data and evidence?

• More info on this can be found in Section 2.2

• What SMART targets will you work to achieve?

• o How will these targets help you improve the extent, connectivity, diversity and condition of the treescape?

• More info on this can be found in Section 2.5

• What practical actions will be taken by the local authority and other stakeholders to deliver the vision and targets?

• Who is responsible for each action?

• What is the timescale for each action?

• If external organisations are delivering parts of the action plan, how will they be engaged and what role will they play?

• More info on this can be found in Section 3.2

• How will you monitor progress?

• How can the strategy be effectively embedded into wider policy?

• Will there be an oversight committee or advisory group working alongside your working group?

• When will the TAWS be reviewed?

• More info on this can be found in Section 3.4

• More info on this can be found in Section 3.1 Table 4 continued...

• Over the period covered by the strategy, how will the local authority work with stakeholders to involve them in treescape management?

• How will you encourage a sense of co-ownership over the treescape and ensure stakeholder communities have a say about how trees are managed?

• More info on this can be found in Section 1.4 and 3.3

• How will the strategy’s objectives be funded and resourced?

• Will you seek external sources of funding? E.g. from national and local grant schemes

• What opportunities are upcoming? E.g. be prepared to seize grant application opportunities such as the Local Authority Treescapes Fund

• How will the strategy align with the local authority’s financial and budget cycles?

How long and what might it cost to develop your strategy?

Based on discussions with local authorities and other groups, it seems the average time taken to produce a TAWS is between 18 months and two years, depending on the number of people involved, the amount of time they have dedicated to the project and the ambition/scope of their data collection and public consultation. However this can be achieved at greater speed, e.g. Surrey County Council developed their strategy in six months. Depending on resources, it might be necessary to start small and build on the strategy over time - all progress is good!

Estimating the costs of the production of a TAWS has been difficult to gather as different organisations use a combination of officer time and external consultants/data sources. The following anonymous quotes collected when researching this toolkit, provide a range of examples:

“About nine months for one person and input from others, plus graphic designer time. The only costs were officer time. ”

“The cost of producing the Tree and Woodland Strategy was around £11,000 for content and design, although that doesn’t include the officer time, partner time on commenting and providing input (estimated at £7,500-£10,000 on top of that), so £18,000-£20,000 overall, plus partner time contributing.”

“The budget was £24,000 which was granted from the local authority and we used mostly to pay the subcontractors.”

“Because our plan was completely reliant on gathering of empirical data, and development of needs modelling, it took a great deal of planning, data collection, modelling, and extensive consultation across 11 local authorities. Cost around £250,000. ”

As can be seen from the case studies above, developing a Trees and Woodland Strategy does not necessarily have to involve significant financial investment. Where resources are limited, simply getting started, gathering evidence and engaging partners over time, can act as a catalyst to developing a more holistic treescape management approach.

2.2 Gathering the evidence

An effective Trees and Woodland Strategy will be underpinned by an evidence base throughout the strategy’s lifetime, but the data used will vary between local authorities depending on the strategy’s vision, the data and resources available. For details of evidence types see Table 5 below.

It will typically present evidence and information about trees in the local landscape, thus establishing a strong shared understanding of the treescape. This can then reveal the best opportunities for tree establishment and woodland creation, as well as identifying locations where increasing the tree cover will make the greatest difference to people’s lives.

In parallel, as Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are prepared across the country following publications of regulations and guidance as part of the 2021 Environment Act delivery, a Trees and Woodland Strategy must align with the broader nature recovery objectives in each area.

A strong evidence base will help to:

• support discussions and decisions based on evidence

• help with developing realistic targets

• establish a baseline for monitoring progress

• identify and track risks and uncertainties

• highlight opportunities, for example locations suitable for tree planting

• ensure that the impact of the TAWS can be evaluated and demonstrated to stakeholders, including budget-holders, councillors, and the public.

The first step in this process is to identify what evidence is currently available, which may be held by the local authority itself, for example, as part of creating a Local Nature Recovery Strategy, or gained by collaborating with external stakeholders. This is especially important as this will avoid the repetition of work as well as some of the cost of collecting new data.

Gathering the data

In Greater Manchester the combined authority (10 districts) developed a strategy showcasing the approach taken to valuing and mapping existing trees and potential opportunities for planting and woodland creation.

Broadly speaking, the data-gathering phase took approximately one year, with the writing of the strategy taking a further year to complete.

Resource needs

At the beginning of their TAWS development, Norfolk County Council identified some of the most useful resources including accurate data on existing trees and replacement rates as well as GIS layers that show opportunities for tree planting to contribute to flood alleviation, habitat linking and public health benefits, especially in deprived areas.

Key recommendations for collating and sourcing evidence

1. Identify ‘need-to-know’ and ‘nice-to-have’ information. Table 5 below shows the types of evidence that may be useful depending on the priorities and scope of the strategy.

2. Use what you have. Consider internal and external stakeholders, for example local environmental charities may hold habitat maps. Collate and review this against the identified needs and make a list of gaps.

3. Undertake targeted and prioritised evidence gathering. Focus on data that can be used to set targets relating to the overall vision and measure progress against this.

4. Keep it up to date. Determine how often data should be collected and reviewed, who will be responsible for maintaining databases and who they will report to. These data may be useful in the future both locally and in informing central government policy.

Mapping your local authority

When it comes to mapping, there are a range of factors that will inform the best approach for a local authority. This includes the size of the area covered, whether it is predominately rural or urban, the distribution of protected areas, the amount of land the local authority owns and the major landowners in the area. As well as influencing how best to map the treescape, this will also shape where and how tree planting can be achieved. For example, local authorities with little publicly owned land (such as county farms) may find it useful to partner with large landowners for the development and delivery of their Trees and Woodland Strategy, and these partners might range from charities to large estates.

Where possible, engage with mapping and digital specialists within your organisation at the start of the TAWS process in order to bring them on board with the project goals and to agree the time that might be required. It is also worth consulting with other teams such as property services and flood defence, as they

© Bluesky International Ltd

Sample map showing Ancient Woodland Inventory and AONB boundaries combined with National Tree Map.

may have data they can share. Thinking early on about how the final maps and analysis will be shared can also save significant time later on as this can be built into processes from the start. Where possible, making maps available online is a good way of ensuring public access, as with Forester GIS and Magic Map.

When it comes to mapping the treescape, the best option is also likely to differ depending on the context. Some mapping services may be better in an urban context (for example, iTree Canopy) as they are updated less frequently for rural areas. Additionally, the cost of mapping can be substantial: one county council, and thus covering a large area, estimated that they paid £9,000 up front for their National Tree Map, as well as half that again each year for the continued subscription. This cost can present a particular challenge as there also needs to be the resource available to make use of these maps through analysis. For example, to compare with other maps (see Table 5) and estimate the percentage of particular features (ancient woodland, traditional orchards, etc), as well as how much of this occupies public or private land. This may be something the tree team can resource, or it may require hiring a contractor.

Additionally, it is worth consulting local charities and companies as well as colleges and universities, as it may be possible to shape this into a development opportunity for a student, apprentice or trainee.

Useful evidence and data

Table 5 below lists the types of information that may assist in the production of a TAWS. Some of this information may help to provide contextual background, while others may be needed for effective delivery.

Some options may involve external assistance (such as an iTree Eco assessment of the tree canopy) which may be costly. Where possible, use existing and freely available data, some of which is outlined in the table below. The Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG) have produced a useful summary document comparing the pros and cons of different approaches to assessing the economic value of trees (First Steps in Valuing Trees and Green Infrastructure).

Mapping the treescape could be a development opportunity for a student, apprentice or trainee.

evidence and information and how to obtain it

Type of evidence and contextual information

Policy context

National policy and legislation

e.g. climate change, habitat and species targets, or tree health policy

Regional policy and initiatives

e.g. Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Community Forests, National Parks

• Helps to inform and justify targets and action plans

• Heavily influences local policy

• Relevant legislation and obligations may need to be factored into plans

• Help identify payment incentives e.g. the new Environmental Land Management Schemes

• Essential to understand regional strategies that may be relevant and useful to treescape management

Phase 2: Developing the strategy

• Magic Map Table 5: Types of

How to obtain it

Local policy

e.g. local planning policy and tree management policies

Local context

Community demographics

e.g. socio-economic data, access to greenspace and woodlands

• Defines agreed policies, principles, or ideas as the basis for decision making or developing a strategy

• Helps identify opportunities and challenges

• Identifies stakeholders for consultation and co-design

• Desk-top review

• Seek advice and support from national organisations, e.g. Defra, Forestry Commission

• See Appendix C of this toolkit

• Desk-top review

• Discussions with local organisations and leads of regional projects.

• Community Forests

• Local Nature Recovery Strategies

• Desk-top review

• Discussion with relevant local authority departments

Land use and ownership

e.g. maps showing publicly owned land and private land

• When managing treescapes for public benefit, now and in the future, the needs of the community must be understood

• Pursuing equity and access for underrepresented groups

• Identifies stakeholders for consultation and co-design

• Helps understanding of opportunities, e.g. for tree planting

• Understanding the land use and status can help to identify available funding, for example funding targeted for brownfield regeneration, as well as restrictions

• Tree planting targets may require local authorities to work with landowners and managers to plant and manage trees

• Identifies stakeholders for consultation and co-design

• Discussion with relevant local authority departments

• Census data

• Include community groups in co-design process

• Public consultation (online, open meetings).

• ONS datasets, such as Index of Multiple Deprivation

• Internal maps of publicly owned land

• Land Registry

Table 5 continued...

Type of evidence and contextual information Why this is useful

Local context continued...

Spatial mapping and ecological data

e.g. habitat maps

• It is important to contextualise trees, woodlands, and hedgerows within the landscape

• Helps to visually demonstrate opportunity, or lack of, for tree planting, feeding into target setting (c.f. climate mitigation and adaptation)

• It is useful to identify areas with existing protections under nature and conservation laws, such as ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees (and long-established woodland which does not yet have protections but protections are being consulted on), which may influence the strategy

How to obtain it

Treescape data

Treescape inventory and mapping

e.g. canopy cover map

• To set targets and monitor progress there must be reasonably accurate, quantitative data

• Maps are visual and can be interactive, useful assets for stakeholder engagement

• Magic Map

• Local Ecological Records Centre

• Local Nature Recovery Strategy maps

• Natural England Open Data Geoportal

• Guidance on ancient and veteran trees and woodlands

• Ancient Tree Inventory

• Ancient Woodland Inventory

• Natural Capital and Ecosystems Assessment programme

• National Heritage List

• Local Historic Environment Records

• E-planner tool for farmers and other land managers, developed by UKCEH

Value of trees and their ecosystem services

e.g. value of flood prevention

• Framing the benefits that trees provide, such as carbon storage or flood prevention, in economic terms can help to justify investment and inform decision making

• Demonstrates the return on investment of the strategy over time

• GIS and mapping services – whether in-house or commissioned

• National Forest Inventory

• iTree Eco

• Forestry Commission maps

• BlueSky Mapshop

• Local Ecological Records Centre

• Local Historic Environment Records

• Volunteer groups (plus case study)

• Green Infrastructure Framework mapping resource

• iTree Eco

• CAVAT

• A commissioned project from a university, consultancy, Forestry Commission Area Team, etc.

• Natural Capital Accounting tool (Natural England)

• Natural Capital Atlas (Natural England)

Some examples of how local authorities have gathered and used evidence are:

• The London Borough of Islington worked with the social enterprise Treeconomics to assess the borough’s treescape and analyse the ecosystem services provided by its trees. This yielded critical information for the borough’s ambitious target setting and has been made publicly available here.

• The West of England made use of the National Forest Inventory, the West of England Nature Partnership (WENP) Nature Recovery Network, iTree Bristol and iTree North Somerset, with supporting evidence from the Forest of Avon Trust. The tree priority maps created used a combination of Forestry Commission, Friends of the Earth and WENP data.

• The Greater Manchester TAWS included an iTree Eco valuation of the composition and benefits of the treescape, as well as a comprehensive set of GIS maps of both the existing canopy and potential opportunities for planting.

• Leeds City Council used a combination of Blue Sky, Woodland Trust guidance and a tool created by Leeds University to identify priority areas for planting for inclusion in their White Rose Forest Strategy. This tool takes account of areas of multiple deprivation, lack of existing access to woodland, opportunity cost, carbon sequestration potential and existing natural areas and biodiversity.

The map of existing woodland in Leeds –developed as part of the TAWS planning.

The benefits of trees to Manchester as set out in their TAWS

2.3 Creating a shared vision

Developing a specific vision for your Trees and Woodland Strategy can help provide an overall strategic direction. It should explain the need for investment and management of your treescapes in a short and digestible statement and establish a shared understanding with stakeholders. It needs to contemplate both national and local policy contexts. A vision of an improved treescape may consider the extensive benefits that trees and woodlands provide and might cover:

• Extent of trees and canopy cover: opportunities to increase street trees and create new woodland, and the approach to managing public land, engaging private landowners and prioritising areas for planting.

• Nature connectivity: trees and hedges can be vital linear features connecting habitats and landscapes, and it is also important to consider how biodiversity will be considering in tree planting and management decisions.

• Tree health and woodland management: consider a focus on tree management which includes the current and potential threats such as pests and diseases, deer and squirrel damage and the impacts of a changing climate. Also consider prioritising your most valuable trees, including ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees.

• Access to trees: consider approaches to widening access provision across public and private land. Identify priority communities and areas currently lacking green space.

• Supporting the green economy: opportunities for trees and parks to earn revenue (such as through carbon credits, selling felled wood, etc) and support for sustainable forest based industries and green jobs.

• Disservices of trees: Also consider the possibility of unintended negative impacts from some trees species, especially in cities. For example, some people with allergies can be affected by pollen and other irritants such as from birch and London plane. Some trees can also produce excessive fruit fall on pavements, honeydew sap on parked cars, or direct or indirect damage to property. These disservices can be completely avoided by careful and considered species selection and placement. More information on these issues can be found in the FC’s Urban Tree Manual.

The Wirral Circular Trail – a place to contemplate the Wirral Treescape.

Here are some headline statement examples from existing Trees and Woodland Strategies:

Leeds: “We want to create a genuinely sustainable, well-wooded landscape which will benefit the people, economy and wildlife of Leeds – increasing canopy cover from 17% to 33% by 2050.”

West of England: “Our vision is of more, better managed and connected trees and woodland making a vital contribution to a thriving natural environment, society and economy in the West of England. Drawing upon our record of collaborative working and project delivery, we will work together towards an aspiration of doubling the West of England’s semi-natural tree and woodland cover, including open wooded landscape and mosaic habitats, by 2050 – equivalent to an additional 8,000 ha of tree and woodland cover.”

Birmingham: “Having more trees for Birmingham, that deliver benefits for health, nature, and climate change, for all communities within the city, now and in the future, as part of an inclusive and sustainable urban forest.”

Wirral: “In the ten-year span of this strategy over 210,000 trees will be planted, at least 21,000 per year. In doing so we will replace many times over the number of trees unavoidably lost with the caveat of the unknown quantity of trees which may be lost to ash dieback. The trees that are planted will see Wirral’s tree canopy cover doubled by the time they are fully grown. We will adopt the principle of ‘the right tree for the right place’ in order to ensure the most resilient tree population possible. We will establish a clear picture of Wirral’s tree stock and its benefits. We will work constructively with individuals and groups to deliver this vision.”

In Leeds, the TAWS aims to develop a well-wooded landscape which will benefit the people, economy and wildlife.

How to create a collaborative vision for a Trees and Woodland Strategy

Develop a vision collaboratively with your working group and carry out appropriate public consultation. Engage a representative crosssection of individuals who have a range of experience and expertise with an interest in your treescape. These may be internal (for example health, parks, planning and highways officers) and external community groups, charities and businesses (see Section 1.4).

Host discussions about the focus of the Trees and Woodland Strategy with these groups and capture the debates that follow (see Appendix B.4 on the P.E.S.T.L.E approach to stakeholder engagement). This fosters an inclusive development process which will help gather support from stakeholders at an early stage.

Following the consultation process, it should now be possible for the working group to outline the general aims of the strategy and some of the intended outcomes. This will allow the vision to be shared internally and externally, to elicit support at an early stage from all the stakeholders.

Collaborative working

The West of England Strategy used a range of engagement methods, including one-to-one discussions to fully understand individual stakeholder perspectives, group meetings and opportunities for comment on the developing strategy during drafting. Additionally, there was a recognition that consistency across overlapping documents (such as AONB management plans) was key in order to avoid confusing potential stakeholders, such as landowners.

The West of England Plan – explores the treescape of the area.

2.4 Linking a TAWS to national and local policies

How your TAWS relates to national policies

The social, environmental and economic benefits of thriving treescapes are enormous and have been well researched and documented (see Appendix B.1). However, it can sometimes be challenging to see how local goals and deliverables are informed by and relate to national legislation and policy – while legislation is fixed and must be adhered to, national policy can be subject to intermittent change. In this section, while we outline some of the current key relevant policies and how they might inform a local Trees and Woodlands Strategy, a local authority’s own policies and objectives should be statements of its intent on how all the trees and woodlands within its geographical area are to be protected and enhanced.

Policy and strategy interlinkages

As examples of interlinkages, the Greater Manchester case study provides a useful example of how a TAWS can interlink with a Local Nature Recovery Strategy, while the West of England shows how a national emphasis on community forests led to a nature recovery-focused TAWS.

The importance of trees and woodlands in contributing to core climate change mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity goals has been increasingly emphasised in recent national government policy, notably the England Trees Action Plan, which emphasises the imperative to plant and protect more trees, in order to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

There has also been a focus on:

• Improvements to biodiversity, including through the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan

• Changes to the National Planning Policy Framework which will result in more tree lined streets

• The resilience of our treescape, set out in the Tree Health Resilience Strategy and Forest Research’s Resilience Implementation Framework.

• Local Nature Recovery Strategies that are required by the 2021 Environment Act.

There have also been a raft of policies on tree planting and management, including on ancient woodlands, street trees, green infrastructure, and woodland creation, with more to come as committed to by government in the England Trees Action Plan. Appendix C summarises some of the policies in this space.

How your TAWS relates to local policies

Local policies and strategies make up a vision and documented framework to guide decision making, thereby enabling the local authority to operate for the benefit of local residents. A local TAWS should form a standalone and distinct strategy but which is itself linked and complementary to all other relevant local strategies and policies, for example Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Local Plans, Neighbourhood Plans, Farming Policy, Open Spaces, Sport and Recreation, Play & Transport Strategies. It will sit within this suite of policies and also be an important reference for a local authority’s own operational documents on how it will practically manage, or influence: the management of trees on its own sites; or sites where it has a freehold interest; highways; parks and open spaces; education sites; housing sites; woodlands etc.

In this way a TAWS can perform a central role including acting as an evidence base to inform these other local policies, strategies and management plans; it will be a communications and management tool to facilitate decision making and actions within all levels of local authority management structures from Cabinet Members, Councillors, from Chief Officers to other members of staff.

Whatever function they are intended to serve, a TAWS must interlink and benefit local authority services, as well as influence any relevant adopted or emerging strategies and policies.

Wider Land Use Strategies

e.g. Local Plans, Neighbourhood Plans, Farming Policy, Open Spaces, Sports and Recreation, Play and Transport Strategies

Strategy

Biodiversity Strategy

e.g. Local Nature Recovery (LNRS), Biodiversity Net Gain, Nature Recovery Networks

This diagram shows the central role of a local Trees and Woodland Strategy and acknowledges that it will complement local authority activities relating to LNRS (nature improvements), Net Zero responses (carbon storage and sequestration) and wider land use strategies (e.g. local and neighbourhood plans).

TAWS

Local Plans

The local authority’s Local Plan provides the statutory framework in which planning decisions are made and sets the approach to land use and development. They are typically made up of location or priority-specific strategic policies. They also include non-strategic policies which deal with ‘detailed matters’ including establishing design principles and conserving and enhancing the natural and historic environment. Local Plans provide the basis for achieving well-designed places, conserving and enhancing the historic and natural environment, and mitigating and adapting to climate change and biodiversity losses. They also address the needs and opportunities for an area in relation to community facilities, infrastructure, housing and transport. Local authorities are required to keep their Local Plan up to date.

Around 90% of local authorities have an adopted Local Plan.

A TAWS can form part of your evidence base

Trees and woodlands will be relevant to many local policy objectives (see Section 1.1) due to their value, the broad range of ecosystem services they provide, and their vulnerability to development. This should be reflected by Local Plan policies that protect, conserve and enhance treescapes, as they are a significant element of green infrastructure within most local authority areas.

A TAWS could form part of the Local Plan evidence base to support and inform these policies, or could help inform local design codes. A local authority should consider adopting its TAWS, or an abridged version of it, as a Supplementary Planning Document (under current proposals in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, Supplementary Planning Documents would be replaced by Supplementary Plans) that sits under the Local Plan – to conserve and enhance that aspect of the natural and historic environment. It would therefore become a material consideration in decision taking by the local authority or by the Planning Inspectorate when considering planning applications or planning appeals, and similarly would need to be considered by developers when making planning applications.

Many local authorities and stakeholders also have their own ambitions for trees, including responding to the climate emergency or improving the health and wellbeing of their residents and communities. Improving a local treescape can be challenging, and a TAWS is an essential tool to tackle this task.

Ideally a TAWS should become a material consideration in planning decisions.

2.5 Setting effective targets

Setting and monitoring targets that are tailored to the local area is a key part of ensuring a TAWS continues to be a valuable, active document that informs policy and drives coordinated action in order to achieve the vision.

A target is distinct from a general vision in that it is SMART: specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and time-bound. Several targets might be needed to progress towards achieving the overarching vision of the future treescape. Targets should align to national and local objectives or principles for the treescape.

Examples of target themes that might be considered are:

• tree planting, replacement and survival rates

• woodland creation and management

• canopy cover, including in specific areas of interest

• nature connectivity

• age and species diversity

• tree health and risk management

• public health and wellbeing benefits

• social equality

• access to green spaces and woodlands

• protecting and enhancing the historic environment

• creating green jobs and supporting sustainable industries.

These targets are likely to differ for different treescapes, for example urban targets may differ from targets for rural treescapes. Any targets should be funded, achievable and measurable to see if the vision is being delivered. As such, the more specific the target is, the easier it is to track and evaluate progress towards it. There are a range of ways to set targets, as demonstrated by the case studies below:

• Birmingham City Council’s Urban Forest Master Plan is intended as a strategic document that will shape the city’s approach to trees for the next 30 years. It begins with a general vision before setting out a range of targets that are ranked according to levels of priority, current performance, actions that need to be taken

Woodland creation

Woodland creation involves a change in land use and is thus more regulated than the act of tree planting itself. As such, this will require regulatory approval and to meet the requirements of any grant funding, such as meeting the UK Forestry Standard. Substantial guidance is available from the Forestry Commission (see here) and we also recommend signing up for updates to keep aware of new grants and initiatives.

Urban Forest Report Card

An example of a useful set of criteria which can be used to set targets has been developed and is called the Urban Forest Report Card. This includes topics such as canopy cover, age distribution of the trees, species diversity and suitability and many more. Full details are outlined in Appendix B.3

and when progress will be next reviewed (based on the Urban Forest Report Card). As well as targets which relate directly to the treescape (such as age diversity), they also have targets that address collaboration and governance (such as co-operation with utilities) as well as those concerning sustainable resource management (such as green waste utilisation).

• Leeds City Council have taken a different approach with their White Rose Forest Strategy. They have decided to focus on an ambitious canopy cover target (from 17% to 33% by 2050), including 1,500 hectares of tree planting by 2030. Actions towards these targets are informed by their Systematic Conservation Planning Tool (combining opportunity cost, areas of deprivation, carbon sequestration potential, and existing habitats and urban forms) as well as other considerations such as flood mitigation. As such, Leeds have worked on identifying constraints to planting as well as areas that would receive the most benefit, such as where residents have no existing woodland. These ambitions are then linked to planned actions and the targets and progress made will be reviewed yearly.

• The London Borough of Islington has a tree canopy cover target, aiming to increase it from 25% to 30% by 2050. This target could only be set once the borough had gained an accurate baseline of data on the existing tree cover. The borough already has a higher-than-average cover compared with UK towns and cities, and other London boroughs, showing that it is important to collect area-specific evidence rather than making assumptions based on national or regional averages.

Your TAWS should detail how progress against targets will be tracked and evaluated, and when it will be revisited for potential revisions. We also recommend considering how the data you collect might feed into national policy decision making, for example influencing the funding and support offered for tree planting, woodland management, etc. In this vein, it may be worth considering the Forestry Commission’s Key Performance Indicators and the monitoring required for Local Nature Recovery Strategies and setting targets based on these metrics.

The Leeds TAWS aims to increase the canopy cover of the city from the existing levels.

Phase Delivering your strategy 3

Phase 3 Delivering your strategy

Delivering your strategy will require funding, an action plan, ongoing community engagement, coordinated activity, monitoring and evaluation. This phase is likely to last for many years and the delivery mechanisms and actions will change over time.

3.1 National funding opportunities

Tree planting supports government objectives and as a consequence there is more than £675m being invested to support tree planting and woodland creation through the Nature for Climate Fund programme, including funding for local authorities which, in 2022, includes the Local Authority Treescapes Fund and Urban Tree Challenge Fund and the Woodland Creation Accelerator Fund.

There are also many other initiatives that are likely to fund tree planting and maintenance, including agri-environments schemes such as Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS), selling carbon credits (see the Woodland Carbon Code) and Biodiversity Net Gain. The Forestry Commission produces an updated list of guidance and available funding

Robust business cases are the foundation to effective investment decisions and evaluation. You can read some guidance about how to build a business case here and HM Treasury has also produced a Checklist for Assessment of Project Business Cases and a useful guide. However, it is vital that you engage with those who have experience in delivering business cases in your local authority, as there are likely to be preferred in-house approaches.

From the case studies in this toolkit, the West of England is an example where having a TAWS has already helped to unlock funding for delivery, while the Leeds Tree and Woodland Strategy includes a transparent approach to resources and funding.

3.2 Developing an action plan

Including an action plan in the strategy ensures that there is a clear pathway to delivery.

A TAWS will typically set out the vision, aims and principles for the treescape in your area. It is crucial to match this vision with an action plan which sets out in practical terms, how the strategy will be delivered. An example action plan framework is provided in Appendix D. The Forest of Avon Case Study provides details of a real action plan.

How to create an action plan

1. Consider the timeframe for the action plan – how many years will it cover? A TAWS is likely to cover a relatively long timeframe – typically more than 10 years. It would be difficult to anticipate and plan all the actions for this timeframe, which will be subject to a great deal of change (e.g. resources, national and local policy and politics, and people). An action plan can cover part of the TAWS’s timeframe –e.g. one year, two years, five years – to suit the local context.

2. Create a framework of all the aims and targets listed in your TAWS. It is useful to create a simple, logical framework, including the aim or target, the action, who might support the action, indicators, targets, timeframes and the responsible people. A hypothetical model is shown in Appendix D

3. Circulate the proposed action plan among relevant stakeholders for feedback and suggestions, especially anyone who will be involved in delivery. Including a wide range of stakeholders can also generate more suggestions, offers of help, or resolve difficult discussions around resourcing and responsibility. Collect feedback and discuss any proposed changes or issues in a meeting.

4. Think about whether you want to publish the action plan alongside your TAWS. The advantage is that practical actions to deliver the TAWS can begin straightaway and progress against targets can be monitored.

A strategy without an action plan is just a wish list. “ “

3.3 Ongoing community engagement

There are two further elements of a Trees and Woodland Strategy that will determine its success:

• Do local communities feel a continued sense of ownership towards the strategy?

• Is progress being tracked and evaluated?

One of the best ways of maintaining a strategy as a living document is to have a diverse group of people with a direct stake in the outcomes it has proposed. Communities should therefore be adequately consulted and engaged, on an on-going basis, in projects that might involve significant changes to their local areas, e.g. planting a woodland in their community, or pruning plans for their street trees.

As discussed in Section 1, community groups should already have been involved throughout the process of creating the strategy. However, the strategy also needs to be accessible and provide opportunities for the widest range of citizens to have their voices heard and their concerns or suggestions considered. To ensure this happens, consult your equality, diversity and inclusion officer and see the Local Government Association resources. Make the strategy accessible to the widest range of citizens by:

• publishing it online and promote through social media

Community action in Gloucestershire

In 2021, Stonehouse Town Council in Gloucestershire adopted the Stonehouse Community Arboretum Management Plan. The idea is for the whole town to become an arboretum. The plan recognises the importance of public participation and inclusivity. The document states: “… governance decisions relating to the management of the urban forest should involve all parts of the community”. And: “If the objectives of the Stonehouse Community Arboretum Management Plan are to be achieved, then participation from all parts of the community is essential.”

• providing paper copies (ideally on recycled paper) for people who struggle with, or don’t have access to, computers (whether door-to-door or in spaces such as libraries or doctors’ surgeries)

• having versions that are in large print, colour blind friendly or translated into the languages most common in your area.

Although treescape management varies between local authorities, there may be local networks of Tree Officers or other tree organisations that can provide useful peer-to-peer feedback on drafts of a strategy.

Public engagement will require significant time and effort, and it may need team members with particular skill sets, collaborating with external organisations (notably third sector groups are usually experts in this space) or training existing colleagues.

Making your strategy accessible

In Fareham, in response to growing public support and interest in trees in the town, they worked to make their revised strategy more public facing, including moving more technical detail into appendices to keep the core document accessible.

In Leeds, a graphic designer was commissioned to design their document and create illustrations in an attractive way, making it more widely read and understood. This included developing a summary ‘strategy on a page’ (see diagram below), which makes the strategy more understandable.

These efforts are particularly important as some groups do not feel that natural or green spaces are ‘for them’ (e.g. the example of race and public access from the Runnymede Trust) and this is evidenced by government statistics. For example, a 2021 Natural England commissioned report (Nature Visuals) has highlighted that images of people in natural and green spaces are often not diverse and so are unlikely to engage a wide audience. As such, beyond making information about the strategy accessible, it is also important to engage community groups and community leaders to ensure that the strategy is addressing the specific needs of local people.

Communities should be engaged in projects that change their treescape.

Diagram: The one-page graphic outlining the Leeds Tree Strategy.

3.4 Delivering, monitoring and evaluating your action plan

Once you have identified clear and measurable objectives and defined your action plan, you will need to deliver the plan and monitor its progress. Here are a few key points to consider:

• Identify practical actions to deliver each aim and consider who will support this. Consider what actions are needed to move towards achieving the aim or vision, and consider which stakeholders might be critical in these actions.

• Give the members of your working group or team clear roles and the time to make the required contributions. This is important as there are risks with having a group that is too small (insular) or too big (unwieldy), and it may be useful to have a governance structure to ensure decisions are made in a timely fashion.

• Identify one person who will report on progress. It is useful to have a single person responsible for each action. They will not have to deliver it alone, or be held personally accountable, but will have responsibility for coordinating the action, liaising with other stakeholders, and giving progress reports to the working group. They can also flag risks to delivery and identify the need for any additional resources that may not be foreseen.

• Ensure team members have evaluation built into their roles or work objectives. This capacity is important as it is otherwise easy for evaluation to be pushed aside behind other priority activities. However, evaluation is vital to the business case for continuing the work.

Tracking progress

Within Birmingham’s Urban Forest Master Plan framework, there are systems to track progress against clearly stated actions and deliverables. Figure 1 in Case Study 5 shows a performance tracker developed as part of the Plan, which lists the headline Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and shows the current performance level. This will change over time as progress is made in relation to each KPI. It also identifies which KPIs are considered as the highest priorities. Each KPI is addressed in more detail in the report, with responsibility assigned for each action. This approach to progress monitoring could provide inspiration for other local authorities and could be adapted for different local contexts.

• Establish the timeline for reviewing and reporting on progress. For example, the working group might meet once a month, report on progress annually and update the strategy every three years.

• Check financial scoping is taking place, whether in terms of internal budget reviews or keeping track of funding pots being made available, whether by national government, private finance or the third sector. The timelines for some of these funds can be tight, so it is important to make checking available funding sources a regular activity, so that proposals can be developed in time.

• Collect sufficient data from on-going activities to allow monitoring and evaluation of progress. This data may take various forms depending on the relevant objective, for example it could be quantitative (planting, felling, replacement and survival rates), spatial (canopy cover by district or land type) or qualitative (feedback from engagement events).

As identified in Leeds, collating figures from across the council including tree planting in planning schemes, highways schemes and other services is straightforward. However, getting data from other public institutions and private planting will be more challenging. Tracking tree felling is also challenging as data is held by diverse bodies, including private landowners down to the scale of individual gardens.

• Evaluate the progress of the action plan. Use internal or external evaluators to determine the performance of your TAWS against your targets and objectives. This is likely to include quantitative, spatial and qualitative data analysis.

A Trees and Woodland Strategy, just like the treescapes it hopes to improve, needs to be a living entity that can adapt as needed. Governance, monitoring and evaluation are key to this and will make it possible to measure the impact of all the work that has been done. This is vital to ongoing financial justification and to building trust with wider stakeholders.

Ultimately, the Trees and Woodland Strategy is a success if it has a life beyond the local authority, whether that’s in the healthy treescape it shapes or in the communities that are supportive of its delivery.

Recommendations

Summary and conclusions

Resources

Appendices

Acknowledgements

Recommendations taken from the case studies

The local authorities consulted during the development of this toolkit shared their recommendations and key learnings below, to help others developing their own TAWS. Further details can be found in each case study.

Phase 1: Getting started

 Agree a project brief. Consider the tree strategy as a project and so begin by developing a project brief that can be agreed by a group of key stakeholders, line managers, political supporters and the project sponsor.

 Involve colleagues from other departments in the development of the strategy to ensure incorporation of realistic and achievable aims as well as positive adoption of the strategy council wide.

 Develop a small review team in order to receive support and feedback before sending a fuller draft out for wider comment.

 Consider vision and action – if possible, develop an action plan alongside the strategy, rather than afterwards. Although this may take longer to reach publication, it can help to get everything in place, so that well-considered planting can begin in a timely manner.

 Keep the TAWS brief and approachable. The technical detail can already be found elsewhere referenced through weblinks, and the longer it is, the fewer people will read it. Additionally, the strategy can signpost future work or planned documents, such as strategies for business, communities and landowner engagement.

 Take inspiration from other strategies – those involved in writing the Wirral Tree Strategy referred to existing examples for inspiration, particularly citing the Wrexham Tree Strategy as a helpful starting point that could then be tailored to suit local needs, resources and priorities.

Phase 2: Developing the strategy – Target setting

 Consider the type of targets that are suitable for your local authority and seek evidence that underpins this. Can you establish the existing baseline, is the goal realistic, and how will you measure progress once you start?

 Take time to understand the potential tree planting, care and management opportunities both on council-owned land and private land. Although this will vary between authorities, an example of a challenge experienced in Surrey includes competing demands on land (e.g. development pressure).

 It’s not just about trees! It’s important to recognise that there are important habitats and protected areas that are not suitable for planting, and this may affect the feasibility of any targets e.g. significant historic features and historic landscapes. The management of existing woodland can substantially improve biodiversity for example. National policy around nature recovery is evolving, and tree strategies need to integrate effectively with wider local and regional nature recovery plans.

Phase 3: Delivering the strategy – Action plans

 Ensure that your strategy includes (or leads to the creation of) a short- to medium-term action plan as well as longer term objectives, so that momentum is maintained once the TAWS has been published.

 Build on and make clear links to other relevant strategies and plans, such as Green Infrastructure Strategies and AONB/National Park management plans.

 Make clear the ownership of the document going forward to ensure sustainability. Who is responsible for working with partners to integrate it into their work, plans and funding streams? Who will monitor its success? Is additional funding needed to do so?

 Allocate an appropriate level of resource to implement the strategy from its conception.

 Use the strategy to justify proposals for work. For example, Leeds have taken the strategy to their locality teams to evidence why trees should be planted in specific areas of multiple deprivation.

Phase 3: Delivering the strategy – Engagement

 Engage with core stakeholders to develop key principles. For Surrey, these principles provide the shape and structure of the tree strategy.

 Work with a graphic designer. This can help deliver a document that is attractive and engaging to wide audiences.

 Consult with the broadest possible range of local policy makers. This might include raising the strategy at each stage of its development at meetings on planning, transport, civil contingencies, environmental policy and more!

 Public engagement should be active and widespread, and might include webinars, policy events, radio, society meetings and more!

 Work in partnership from the off, ensuring the TAWS meets the needs of all stakeholders and buy-in is achieved across the board.

 Have a communications and engagement resource and outline plan in place and agreed with partners before the launch of the plan where possible to maximise its impact on launch and beyond.

Engage your community with their treescape through planting events, webinars, policy events, radio, society meetings and more!

Summary and conclusions

We all have a responsibility to establish and manage more trees that better connect habitats, enrich our lives and are resilient to future climate and economic pressures. Preparing a Trees and Woodland Strategy for your local authority is vital to achieving this, whatever tier of local government you are in.

This toolkit sets out the three phases identified by the research partners to deliver a successful Trees and Woodland Strategy. These are:

• Phase 1: Covering the basics of getting started: making the case for a TAWS; assembling a team; defining the brief and identifying stakeholders

• Phase 2: Developing the strategy itself: what to include in your TAWS; gathering evidence; creating a shared vision and setting effective targets

• Phase 3: How to deliver your TAWS: securing funding; developing an action plan; consultation and engagement; delivering, monitoring and evaluating progress.

Your Trees and Woodland Strategy should be a document that sets out how a local treescape will be managed now and for the future. It must act as an essential go-to reference for local stakeholders, landowners and managers, planners, developers and environmental agencies for both public and private land.

This toolkit will be revised regularly to include new case studies. We encourage any organisation to contact us to provide feedback or examples of alternative practices for future updates to this document. It is also worth contacting regional and national tree officer groups for additional support and examples.

In every region, there are multiple agencies, organisations, groups and individuals with roles in managing trees and woodlands, and many more passionate people who want to improve the environment. Working together to agree a vision and strategic priorities for the local treescape, while taking account of the national and regional context, can ensure that desired outcomes are achieved for all, and ensure that money and effort spent on trees has maximum effect. Your TAWS should act as the blueprint for shaping a future treescape that delivers the multiple benefits that trees can provide to both humans and wildlife.

As a nation we are facing big questions. What is the future of farming and the countryside? How can we best restore nature in a way that balances biodiversity, sequesters carbon effectively and maximises public access? How can we develop sustainable local economies?

The national ambitions for enhancing and protecting our treescape can only be met through on-the-ground action. Well created, a local Trees and Woodland Strategy, will assist in the delivery of national, local and regional policies, both current and future.

However, the strategy is nothing without an action plan to deliver its objectives. Our collective responsibility is clear – to leave the environment in a better state for future generations. With this in mind, it is hoped that this toolkit will empower authorities and their communities to take action and shape the future of their treescapes.

To achieve all the benefits that trees can provide is a long-term journey – but this needs to start now.

Tree and woodland resources

Below is a list in alphabetical order of several major topics relating to trees and woodlands that may come up in the process of designing and delivering a Trees and Woodland Strategy. We have provided links to key resources on each of these topics in Appendix E. This section will continue to develop as the toolkit is used and we welcome suggested content.

• Access to trees and woodlands and equity

• Ancient woodland, ancient and veteran trees

• Benefits of trees

• Biosecurity

• Brownfield sites

• Canopy cover

• Carbon sequestration

• Citizen Science

• Conservation areas

• Flood and water management

• Green infrastructure

• Health & Safety

• Hedgerows

• Native trees

• Orchards and fruit or nut trees

• Pests and diseases

• Planting

• Public engagement

• Tree Charters

• Tree Preservation Orders

• Tree selection

• Urban trees

• Woodland creation and management

Appendices

Appendix A – Case studies

A.0: An introduction to the case studies

A.1: Surrey County Council – delivering ambitious targets

A.2: Islington Borough Council – on the path to an Urban Forest Master Plan

A.3: Wirral Borough Council – a Strategy for a greener, happier, heathier future

A.4: Leeds City Council – turning targets into action in the White Rose Forest

A.5: Birmingham Urban Forest Master Plan – right reason, right tree, right place, right way

A.6: Norfolk County Council – a vision for trees in Norfolk

A.7: Greater Manchester’s Tree & Woodland Strategy and related policy

A.8: Forest of Avon Plan – a Tree and Woodland Strategy for the West of England

A.9: Fareham Borough Council – a strategy for a resilient treescape

A.10: Stonehouse Town Council

Appendix B - Background research summaries

B.1: Benefits and values of trees

B.2: Research on tree strategies

B.3: Setting and tracking targets

B.4: Stakeholder identification and engagement

Appendix C - Policy and delivery mechanisms

Appendix D - Example action plan

Appendix E – Tree and woodland resources list

TREES AND WOODLAND STRATEGY TOOLKIT

Step-by-step guidance for local action

Acknowledgements

This toolkit features case studies that highlight the work of a range of local authorities and partner organisations. They are on different stages of their trees and woodland strategy journeys and we are hugely grateful to them for sharing their insightful and varied experiences for the benefit of others.

A large number of sector stakeholders and representatives also contributed to a series of research interviews and workshops that enabled the development and testing of ideas. Again, our sincere thanks to all those who participated.

This toolkit has been developed through a partnership of The Tree Council, Fera Science, Forest Research, Forestry Commission and Defra. As a digital document, it is a living resource and we hope to add new knowledge and experience in years to come from other inspiring individuals and organisations creating and implementing Tree and Woodland Strategies.

This toolkit has been prepared with assistance from:

• Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Tree People

• City of Trees, the Community Forest for Greater Manchester

• Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities

• Fareham Borough Council

• Islington Borough Council

• Kent County Council

• Leeds City Council

• Norfolk County Council

• Surrey County Council

Citation

Allan, J., Ambrose-Oji, B., Bowen, C., Clements, J., Jones, G., Pohlschneider, S., Stokes, J., Woodfall, G., 2022. Trees and Woodland Strategy Toolkit. Tree Council, London

Keywords: trees and woodlands, treescapes, toolkit, local authorities, strategy

• West of England Combined Authority, West of England Nature Partnership

• Wirral Borough Council, Wirral Tree Initiative on Trees, Wirral Tree Wardens

All images © The Tree Council, unless otherwise stated.