Celebrating excellence at Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards 2025
A school which has taken lessons on climate change out of the classroom and into the real world, and a project using trees to stop a notorious flooding problem are among the champions honoured at this year’s Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards. When you add in a project to plant free nut and fruit trees in […]
Read about our Environmental SIG’s Professional Development Day
In June, our Environmental Special Interest Group (SIG) held its first in-person event with two site visits hosted by Network Rail and the City of London Corporation. Gordon Pfetscher FICFor, SIG member and Head of Estate at the Woodland Trust, attended this event and has reported back on the day’s activities. Site One – Network […]
Help improve the new Plant Health Information service
The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is developing a new ‘Plant Health Information service’ to enable users to search for up-to date information about plant imports, biosecurity risk and trade requirements. This new service will provide specific answers to questions such as: Is this plant prohibited from the country I am importing […]
Chartered Foresters lead on UK’s first ecosystem-service-verified forest
Ardura forest on the Isle of Mull has been successful in achieving the first Ecosystem Services impact verification in the UK from the Forest Stewarship Council (FSC). The forest is managed in partnership by the Mull and Iona Community Trust, who have been managing Ardura since 2019, and TreeStory, an ecologically focussed forestry and green investment […]
Updated Environmental Land Management schemes in England
With the ongoing development of agricultural transition in England, this week Defra published more information on the three Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including actions, payment rates and when each scheme will be available. The three schemes are: The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) that will pay farmers for sustainable practices that will protect and enhance […]
Forest research launch new Climate Change Hub
The effects of climate change are accelerating, with increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as storms, flooding, drought and wildfire. These and other climate risks pose a significant challenge to management of our landscapes and wider society. Without action, our forests and woodlands may be unable to provide the multiple benefits they currently do, […]
New action plan to save England’s red squirrels
Over the last 150 years, England’s red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, populations have significantly declined. This iconic species is now classed as nationally endangered. Evidence shows that the expansion of grey squirrel populations and range are the main cause of local red squirrel extinctions. To mark Red Squirrel Appreciation Day on 21 January 2023, the UK […]
Institute President calls for action after UK heatwave
With temperatures exceeding 40°C, the UK recorded its hottest ever day on Tuesday 19 July. These extreme heatwaves are becoming more common due to the climate crisis but trees play an important role by storing carbon, boosting biodiversity and, in urban areas, can reduce the effects of heat by up to 10°C. In order to […]
Policy Roundup – June 2022
Our monthly policy and research blog updates you on the latest work at the Institute and how you can get involved. Institute News On 14 June we met with Scotland’s Education Minister Jamie Hepburn to talk about the skills crisis and how we can resolve it. We were joined by Chief Forester Helen McKay FICFor […]
Institute of Chartered Foresters receives grant from the Trees Call to Action Fund
The Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) has been awarded a grant from the £6 million Trees Call to Action Fund, led by Defra, the Forestry Commission and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The grant will enable the ICF to design and deliver two important projects aimed at ensuring the forestry sector is equipped to […]
New government strategy for education increases support for green careers
Announced by the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi on 21 April, the Department for Education has launched a new Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy that includes plans to increase learning on green skills and careers for young people, with the introduction of a new Natural History GCSE. With the introduction of at least one sustainability lead […]
Policy Roundup – March 2022
Our monthly policy and research blog updates you on the latest work at the Institute and how you can get involved. Institute News Several Institute staff attended the Confor dinner and awards this month which was a lovely opportunity to meet members in person. There have also been two reports published this month that the […]
Shape Institute response on biodiversity net gain
Last month, Defra opened a consultation on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). This is an approach to development that means habitats for wildlife must be left in a measurably better state than they were before the development and is mandated through the Environment Act. The way this is implemented will have a significant impact on all […]
Forestry Commission announces ground-breaking apprenticeship programme for the forestry sector
First-of-its-kind opportunity offers an exciting career pathway into the forestry sector for people from all backgrounds and abilities Successful applicants will support delivery of ambitious tree planting targets as we build back greener A first-of-its-kind apprenticeship initiative to foster a growing, highly skilled and more diverse workforce within the forestry sector has been announced […]
Landscape Recovery scheme opens for applications
The Landscape Recovery pilot, one of Defra’s three new environmental land management schemes, has just launched its first round aimed at farmers and land managers. Designed to achieve the Prime Minister’s ambition to deliver at least 10 large-scale areas devoted to landscape and ecosystem recovery by 2024, pilot projects will focus on: recovering and restoring […]
Farmers to be rewarded for their role in woodland creation
Since leaving the EU, the government has introduced three new environmental land management schemes that farmers can get involved in and can be rewarded for participating in. The Local Nature Recovery scheme, Landscape Recovery scheme and Sustainable Farming Incentive will be critical in halting the decline in species by 2030, bringing up to 60% of England’s […]
New controls to stop the spread of bark beetle tree pest
After the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, was discovered earlier this year in Kent following routing plant health surveillance, additional measures have been introduced to prevent the spread in Kent and East Sussex. Building on existing restrictions in the area, a new notice will come into force on Wednesday 22 December that includes the […]
Storm Arwen threatens red squirrel habitats
Woodlands across the UK have experienced significant damage over the last week due to storm Arwen. The Red Squirrel Survival Trust (RSST), a national charity for red squirrel conservation and protection, have voiced concerns over the devastation of the rare mammal’s habitat. David Bliss, Trustee of the RSST, and CEO of Cumbria’s Lowther Trust, said: […]
Phytophthora pluvialis found in Scotland
After it was first discovered in the UK in 2021 in South East England on western hemlock and Douglas fir, the fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora pluvialis has more recently been found in Cumbria in England and now near Loch Carron in Scotland. The symptoms include needle cast (where needles turn brown and fall off), shoot dieback, and […]
New Environment Act passed into law
According to Defra, the UK’s new environmental legislation leads the way on a global level, aiming to improve air and water quality, tackle waste, increase recycling, halt the decline of species, and improve our natural environment. Specifically, the Environment Act will deliver: Long-term targets to improve air quality, biodiversity, water, and waste reduction and resource […]
Help shape the plant biosecurity strategy for Great Britain
A consultation was launched on 21 September 2021 to inform a new plant biosecurity strategy for Great Britain. This GB-wide consultation is directly relevant to anyone who has an interest in, and responsibility towards, plant health. With increasing pressure on trees and woodlands to mitigate the climate and nature crises, there are also unprecedented threats […]
Soil Health Action Plan to be launched in England
Announced in a speech in the House of Lords by the Minister of State for the Environment, Lord Goldsmith, the Soil Health Action Plan (SHAPE) will help restore the health of England’s soils and will contribute to the government’s targets on biodiversity. The plan will be a crucial part of Defra’s efforts to halt the […]
Government seeking views on the release of beavers into the wild
Beavers are being reintroduced in the UK after being hunted to extinction 400 years ago. A consultation launched by Defra on Wednesday 25 August is seeking views on the proposed approach to the further reintroduction and the management of the species in the wild in England. Widely referred to as ‘ecosystem engineers’, beavers can play […]
The Big Black Country i-Tree Project
The Black Country, an area within the West Midlands, has decided to focus on its green infrastructure, by taking a detailed look at the structure and composition of its urban forest. The study will provide valuable information about the trees that grow there: which species are resident, how sustainable the trees are, and what they […]
Successful Green Recovery Challenge Fund projects announced
With £80 million available for nature conservation, recovery and nature-based solutions, the Green Recovery Challenge Fund will see the establishment of almost one million trees in England, supporting 2,500 jobs. Following on from the first round in December 2020, a further 90 projects have been successful in the second round, with grants ranging from £68,100 […]
UN publishes first draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
A post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is to be adopted when the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity takes place in October 2021. Building on the UN’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the new framework will respond to the ongoing biodiversity decline and aims to transform society’s relationship […]
G7 leaders commit to biodiversity and climate change actions
Held in Cornwall in June 2021, the G7 Leaders’ Summit brought together leading democracies to help the world build back better, and greener, from the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US have agreed to the shared G7 Nature Compact in response to the global climate emergency, committing […]