Minutes of the APPG meeting 24 January 2024
Attendees
Parliamentary: Simon Baynes MP (Chair), Trudy Harrison MP, Baroness Young of Old Scone, Earl of Leicester, Pierre Orsini on behalf of Catherine West MP.
Apologies: Sarah Dyke MP, Caroline Lucas MP, Afzal Khan MP, The Earl of Caithness, Baroness Hayman of Ullock.
Woodland Trust: Dr James Cooper, Adam Cormack, Joe Piercy, Rosie Beardmore.
External speakers: Jon Stokes (Tree Council), Rusell Horsey (independent tree expert).
Introductions
Attendees introduced themselves and food and refreshments were served.
Tree equity in the UK
Adam Cormack introduced the Tree Equity Score (TES) and discussed the Trust’s work with American Forests and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare to establish a score in the UK. Adam spoke about the TES being showcased at COP28. He said that Google donated the data for this project to the Trust, after providing data for the initial project in the US.
He said the project aims to show the links between nature and public health and through the database allows the Trust to undertake data analysis and measure inequality. Adam noted that affluent areas have more than double the tree cover and those with the highest level of minority ethnic communities have roughly half the tree canopy cover per person. Adam explained that the data is analysed at a national level and individual areas are given a score out of 100 based on tree canopy cover levels, with the canopy cover goal being based on population. Adam said that this project creates data democratisation and will allow Local Authorities (LAs) to generate reports on where to invest money first regarding tree planting efforts.
An attendee said they were surprised that the constituency used as an example had a lack of trees when it seems like the area has a lot of them.
Another attendee asked to what extent does it consider the factors of the individual places being looked at. Adam said that population density and building density fine tunes this and highlighted that rural areas are not included. Adam explained that the US has been using the TES for several years to embed precision targeting in urban tree planting and to create various levels of working, from community and state level. At a local level, Adam said that training up/upskilling has enabled a diversification of people involved in tree planting efforts and has encouraged local communities to get more involved in their areas.
Rusell explained that adding trees back into an urban landscape is very difficult due to tight terraced streets and lack of front gardens but said that it is doable. He said he wanted to create green corridors to schools and then maintain the momentum from this.
An attendee asked if there is room for improvement and will the Trust be writing to every MP about this topic. James said that the Trust has already picked it up with every local authority and at present it is a conversational opener with MPs and prospective parliamentary candidates, but letters will be sent out closer to the election. Another attendee said that the Trust should not wait for Government money and should speak to developers. They highlighted the positive impact of tree canopy cover on house prices. This attendee also added that the police need to be on side with this and suggested that criminals use trees as hiding places. Rusell disagreed with this and stated that there was evidence to suggest that trees actually decrease crime in areas. The webinar on TES for local authorities was discussed and a readout of the meeting was requested. It was also suggested that the TES should be sent to MPs over WhatsApp by a member and sent via email to all MPs, as well as included in the Trust’s quarterly MP newsletter.
An attendee asked if the TES would be expanded out to rural areas, Rusell explained that there would be anomalies and there is a nuance to measuring it. He said there would be geographical boundaries and that it could be done for towns up until a certain point. A few attendees highlighted the importance of planting in rural areas and emphasised the need for expanding the TES to include this. Another attendee highlighted the importance of the Land Use Framework to make space for various demands on the environment. Rusell said learning needs to be done on this using early canopy work to ensure areas that need trees do not fall through the gaps due to anomalies in datasets. Adam added that the Trust has done opportunity mapping in rural areas at county and Areas of Natural Beauty (AONB) levels, but no one has yet done a national standard idea in the same format as TES. Adam said he would take this away and bring back some thoughts.
An attendee said that the distinctiveness of this project is that LAs can link this with local communities and create a community capacity that leads to other beneficial community developments. Jon Stokes spoke about Defra’s tree targets about 30,000 hectares for the next 30 years and said broken down by parish, 55,000 trees would be needed over this timeframe and said this tool will be beneficial in working out the coverage areas will need. An attendee agreed that trees need to be everywhere, and they need to be in the right place.
The discussion turned to rural involvement in urban tree planting, and vice versa, and said everyone needs to be able to play their part. Another attendee highlighted the wording of the Tree Equity Score, in that it does not specify that it is directed at urban communities predominantly and this needs to be considered when approaching MPs who live in rural areas. They concluded by saying that overall, they think the TES is great.
Rusell was then introduced to the room to outline his work on improving urban tree coverage in Grimsby. He spoke about the importance of working cross-politically and with businesses to create a successful tree planting scheme in urban areas, using his work in Bristol as an example of this. Rusell said cuts and skills are impacting his ability to provide planting opportunities in LAs, despite the increased interest from the public for this. Rusell also criticised the bureaucracy associated with planting trees in urban areas.
Heritage Trees Bill
In the second half of the session, Baroness Young of Old Scone’s Heritage Trees Bill was discussed. Baroness Young introduced the topic, stating that there are many iconic trees in the country, yet they have next to no protection. She said this was a fortuitous time for the bringing together of the Bill in the Lords and the cutting down of the Sycamore Gap. Barbara explained that the Bill would require national lists to be drawn up by Natural England (NE), landowners etc and there would be an obligation to put heritage Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) on those trees. Barbara said the aim is twofold: one, if there is a second reading it would be flag waving for this issue, and two, it serves as a useful warm up act to the work Jon Stokes and the Tree Council are doing to get a more substantial piece of legislation to protect these trees. Baroness Young said the trees protected would be those celebrated in the Trust’s Tree of the Year.
Jon Stokes spoke about the work he and Adam are doing to understand the condition of the heritage trees he wrote about 20 years ago. Jon said that the results of this will be published in the next few months. Jon explained the work the Tree Council, Forest Research and Fera are doing on behalf of Defra, which involves reviewing all protections that have been and that exist currently as well as the grant aid that is given to protect trees. He said this project is in preparation for the spending review and said there will be two workshops, one in February for 'hardcore tree organisations' and the second in April for all stakeholders to represent their views. Jon said this work is on parallel tracks to the work Barbara is doing.
An attendee highlighted the lack of effectiveness of TPOs and said this needs to be considered. Another MP raised concerns about trees becoming overgrown and how this would be tackled. Jon used the High Hedges Legislation that he worked on to deal with this issue, however, he criticised the fact that this was not extended to trees at the time. He suggested a similar protection structure to Grade Listed Buildings for trees. Barbara added that this would be a limited list of really iconic trees that would have individual solutions for them.
An attendee asked about who would bear the costs. Barbara said that the Bill is framed so the responsible planning authority or Secretary of State can enter into an agreement with the owner to take responsibility for the tree.
An attendee explained how they maintain trees on their land, stating that they do not have TPOs and instead have built up a good reputation with the LAs. They suggested that TPOs get put on by a member of the public informing the LA. Another attendee said that TPOs could be issued vexatiously or considered a vexatious act to which Jon suggested that funding could help to protect those trees. Rusell added that with graded buildings, owners are asked if they require money to help maintain the property and to manage the cost of looking after said listed building. He suggested that people could apply for the grant and a body could determine whether they need help. A ten-minute rule Bill on the topic was suggested.
James mentioned interest from media towards the Bill and argued that it is manifesto friendly, Adam added that the Trust has met with NE and Historic England, and both appear to be on board with the idea. Jon also raised the role of the monarchy in this, citing a meeting he had with the Queen and the then Prince Charles where they said trees are as important to the nation as stately homes and castles. He said the final bit of the jigsaw is to work out the criteria for what makes a tree 'heritage' – age, size?
The Chair drew the session to a close.