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London needs an “M25 of trees”
Our vision is a London Tree Ring – a kind of M25 for nature, encircling the capital.
Community woodlands such as nature friendly orchards, ornamental trees and hedgerows will absorb pollution, cool the environment, and provide a safe corridor for wildlife.
The London Tree Ring will help residents and visitors enjoy tranquil countryside on their doorstep.
We now have details of over 100 sites around London suitable for woodland, identified by local communities. In addition we have identified 100 sites based on data from the Greenspace Information for Greater London with the strongest positive indicators for woodland creation and the largest size along the line of potential treescape connectivity around the capital.
Our partners in the Tree Ring Steering Group, The Conservation Volunteers and Trees for Cities are helping approach owners of these sites to open discussions on planting.
What’s happened so far?
We’ve worked in partnership with Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL) to create a map that shows the best opportunities for new planting see here and enter your postcode to see sites near you. If you have additional information about any of the sites marked as top opportunities for woodland creation please email woodlandcreation@cprelondon.org.uk. Ground truthing this information is key! This work is ongoing.
Work has also been done to show how existing areas of woodland could be linked up via the best opportunity sites to create a ring of connected treescapes around the capital. In places this crosses more urban areas where more intensified street tree planting and the creation of street parks could help create a wildlife superhighway – see here for more on the methodology used and proposed line of connectivity, although this may be varied if ground-truthing reveals barriers that cannot be overcome.
We’re working work with the Tree Ring Steering Group (which includes Trees for Cities, The Conservation Volunteers, Woodland Trust, London Wildlife Trust, Thames Chase Community Forest, GiGL and the GLA) to link existing woodland with potential new sites, based on habitat type.
Priorities include planting where trees can help reduce the risks of flooding and enhance water quality, and where new community woodland could improve public access to quality green spaces.
The project directly addresses key requirements of the London Urban Forest Plan – to create more woodland, especially species-rich woodland, in London. The outer ring element is the biggest opportunity in the capital for increasing tree canopy cover.
We’ve also learned from similar projects within the UK and worldwide, to produce a feasibility study. You can read the full report here or read the executive summary.
Urgent action is needed in response to the climate and biodiversity crisis to get more trees in the ground. It is also absolutely vitally important that protection is strengthened for existing trees that are delivering now in terms of carbon capture and storage.
How can you help?
Let us know of sites near you that could benefit from new treescapes please email woodlandcreation@cprelondon.org.uk.
We would love to hear from you! We are particularly keen to know about:
- Opportunities for planting on the buffer lands around existing wooded areas or linking up wooded areas.
- Opportunities for tree planting in land bordering London’s rivers and streams.
- Opportunities for substantial planting near major roads to improve air quality
- Areas of disused greenspace that has been fenced off, and become an eyesore.
- Areas of featureless species-poor grassland where the addition of wooded areas, ornamental trees or orchard could provide diversity and interest.
- Room in allotment areas for new orchard or nut trees.
- Room around the periphery of playing fields to create wooded areas to provide shade on hot days and a place for players to retreat after the game.
- Areas in cemeteries with potential to become woodland burial areas.
- Opportunities to decontaminate old landfill sites.
- Opportunities to make agricultural land more nature friendly through addition of wooded wind breaks, hedgerows or tree based fruit and nut crops.
- Opportunities for planting hedgerows.
If you know of threatened treescapes please contact Tree Ring partner The Woodland Trust in the first instance.
If you want to get hands-on with planting or helping care for treescapes, email laura@cprelondon.org.uk about joining a local friends of greenspace group. Or if there isn’t one in your area, but you know of a site that would benefit from trees and would like to help practically with making your vision a reality – contact Laura who can support you.
If you are able to make a donation to support this work, that would be amazing and very much appreciated as the funding referenced below is running out at the end of 2024 and we are very keen to continue driving this project forwards! You can donate here.
Woodland creation opportunity mapping work
We are grateful to the Mayor of London for supporting our work in partnership with GiGL mapping green belt woodland creation opportunities and undertaking research that has informed this campaign. This is part of a broader project for which the GLA has funding through the Trees Call to Action Fund. The fund was developed by Defra in partnership with the Forestry Commission and is being delivered by the Heritage Fund.
