We need you to help map the UK’s urban tree cover
The Woodland Trust
Urban trees range from street trees to trees in gardens, hedgerows and woods. They hold historical and cultural significance, support local wildlife, improve our physical and mental health, remove air pollution and beautify our surroundings. Without trees, our towns and cities would be very different places. However access to urban trees varies significantly depending on where you live, with levels of tree canopy cover ranging from 3% to 45% in different towns and cities.
Over the past two years, a project led by Forest Research and involving the Woodland Trust, Trees for Cities and Brillianto has been working to map the levels of tree cover in urban areas across the UK and how this differs from city to city, within cities, and the average levels of urban tree cover. On 17th May 2022 forestry and tree organisations will be holding a ‘mapathon’ where you can help to finish this map.
Many local authorities are setting targets to increase tree cover in response to climate change. However, this can be difficult due to a lack of baseline statistics on urban tree cover. This project will enable local authorities to access baseline figures for tree canopy levels in towns and cities across the UK and support them to set better informed targets for planting more urban trees and looking after those that we already have.
The project uses a simple, free and easy to access online system – i-Tree Canopy – to assess tree cover. Volunteers complete an assessment which involves looking at points on Google Maps and indicating whether they are located over a tree or not. The system is used globally and the canopy cover assessments in the project have an accuracy level of better than 98%. During the session, Forest Research and Woodland Trust staff will be on hand to help people undertaking canopy cover assessments, each assessment takes between 30 minutes to an hour and no specialist knowledge is required.
Register for the mapathon via this link: www.urbantreefestival.org/mapathon We can’t wait for you to join us on the 17th May to finish the urban canopy cover map and play a role in planting and protecting our precious urban trees.