Research
Mapping the Social Benefits of Woodland Creation and Expansion
Research Status:current
The English Tree Planting Programme will contribute to the Government’s commitment to increase tree planting to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025. Alongside environmental and economic benefits, there will be social benefits associated with this. Therefore, this planting programme provides a valuable opportunity to assess public attitudes to new planting and the social benefits associated with it, including how this may vary across diverse populations. It is also an opportunity to help us better understand why some people can’t or don’t benefit from woodland creation and expansion and what we can do about it.
This research will pilot a longitudinal social research approach. This is research which assesses how attitudes, benefits and barriers change over time in relation to new tree planting. We will look at this from an individual and a community perspective.
This project is part of the Nature for Climate Fund.
*proof-of-concept refers to establishing through testing whether such longitudinal research is feasible, what it would contribute, and how it could be achieved.
In scoping this work we produced a literature review and developed a theoretical framework.
From this we decided to take a mixed methods approach:
Focusing on communities within 30 mins walk of the new planting sites, we designed and tested a survey questionnaire with this hyper-local population. This approach follows engagement and benefits from the new planting sites at a community scale.
The first wave of testing utilised and compared face to face and Computer Aided Telephone Interview methods. Using the learning from this first wave we are designing a second wave, to be delivered in the late autumn 2024.
Focusing on individuals who visit their local new planting site, we are using a qualitative approach to understand how their engagement with the site and related benefits has changed over time.
Given the short funding window we are utilising a case biography approach and repeat interviews to expand our frame of reference. We have delivered two waves of interviews and the third is scheduled for September 2024.
Analysing the interview data after each wave has enabled us to adapt the approach and also to feed in to wave 2 of the quantitative survey questionnaire approach.
Current funding for this project finishes in March 2025.
DEFRAThis review aims to answer the question “what are the public perspectives of woodland creation, expansion, management and maintenance?” (where woodland is taken to refer to trees in any location and context). Using a combination of structured search strings and key word searches, the search process uncovered 81 relevant publications from 15 countries, published between 1996 and 2021 (inclusive). Given the policy ambitions for tree planting and woodland expansion across Great Britain, from the United Kingdom (UK), Welsh and Scottish Governments, the findings from this review are timely. The findings provide valuable evidence of possible public reactions to new planting, afforestation and changes to management, and identify gaps in the evidence where further work is required.
This review provides evidence of preferences for artificial infrastructure and facilities, and other natural features (alongside trees) that different people favour in different treescapes. Evidence is drawn from 41 international studies from 2002-2022.
A review of the Forestry Commission's estate in England as part of a study to show how the estate contributes to society today and how it might sustainably serve society's long-term needs. By Anna Lawrence, Claudia Carter, Liz O’Brien and Rebecca Lovell. Related pages People, trees and woodlands Social forestry research
Senior Social Scientist
Social Scientist (Behavioural Science Specialist)
Behavioural Scientist
Social Scientist
