‘Future Treescapes in National Landscapes’ was a knowledge exchange project funded through the UK Treescapes programme.
It aimed to explore and apply treescapes research through collaboration with farming and landscape professionals from the Chilterns National Landscape and beyond. Initially the project identified specific knowledge gaps and challenges for farmers, land managers, and conservation groups in the Chilterns. At a series of workshops at the University of Reading during 2024 these discoveries were scaled up for broader treescapes applications across the UK’s other wooded landscapes. The project disseminated successful strategies to support the resilience and growth of UK treescapes for the wider benefit of the environment and society.
The main output of the project was a database of strategy resources. These were selected, ranked and organised to reflect the findings from stakeholder conversations and workshops. This database is now incorporated into the Tree Council’s Guidance Hub and brings together a range of resources identified during the project to support the “Right Tree in the Right Place” principle, and to support those with a treescapes strategy in implementing it on the ground. Resources with a practical focus from a range of groups and organisations and aimed at a range of audiences are included and can support those “Growing, Planting, Managing and Monitoring” trees and treescapes.
The Future Treescapes project also identified areas of interest, knowledge gaps and challenges around developing and implementing treescapes and treescapes policy. Challenges and knowledge gaps around treescapes included the impacts of Ash dieback, climate change and increasing deer populations, and the need for baseline data around, for example, tree numbers and canopy cover in the National Landscapes. Discussions also highlighted the diversity of the landscapes designated under the old AONB system. The founding documents of each National Landscape refers to its characteristic features, and these must be the starting point for any future treescape planning. In any given landscape, tree planting needs to follow the principle of “Right Tree in the Right Place”.
