Published on 1 December 2025
Blog post by: Clare Bissell, Postdoctoral Researcher, National Trust
Urban trees are more than just a ‘nice to have’ – they clean pollutants from the air, cool our streets, reduce flood risks, and provide habitat for wildlife. Urban trees nurture human wellbeing, providing gathering places for people and seasonal touchpoints that symbolise our interconnectedness with nature. Yet, it is well documented that tree cover and quality across UK towns and cities is uneven, with the lowest canopy cover often found in areas of greatest deprivation. Our recent ExCASES mission, Cultivating communities who care for urban trees, examined how organisations of varied sizes and shapes can join forces with local communities to drive meaningful change for tree equity, combining grassroots action with strategic organisational support.
Above: One of a number of urban trees situated in the City of London.
The findings show that community-led action is vital for a thriving, biodiverse urban forest. Place-based projects are already leading the way with initiatives like street tree guardianship schemes, community orchards, tiny forests, and tree nurseries. These projects succeed by building trust, involving local people in decisions, and creating spaces that feel welcoming and inclusive. There are many challenges too, including getting access to land and permission to grow trees, limited funding cycles and priorities of funders, and fragmented networks. To overcome these barriers, our report provides four recommendations: think like an urban forest, nurture reciprocal partnerships, innovate for land access, and secure holistic funding. These are backed by five standalone guidance documents for different audiences (also found in the appendices) and a bold proposal: to create an Urban Forest Network to connect projects of different sizes, support their collaboration and amplify impact across the country.
Principles for partnership: how ENGOs can mitigate inequality of power and resources when working with place-based organisations:
For staff at larger ENGOs and landscape-scale projects who work face-to-face with place-based groups and/or in administrative roles that support project delivery. These principles may be particularly relevant when there is a financial aspect to the partnership.
The five be’s for urban trees: Advice for Local Authority Tree Officers: For Tree Officers and other staff at Local Authorities who work face-to-face with communities or place-based groups and/or in administrative roles that relate to council-managed urban trees.
Principles of best practice for urban tree initiatives:
For individuals and groups of local residents who want to get involved in existing or leading new place-based urban tree initiatives.
Participatory Tool Roots and Branches: For staff or volunteers at place-based urban tree initiatives and other organisations working on urban trees. It can also be used by coalitions of organisations who are setting up partnership work on urban trees. The tool includes a session plan and blank template.
Participatory Tool Roots and Branches – blank template.
Download the Booklet – From tiny acorns to mighty oaks: inspiring stories of community action for the UK’s urban forest
A beautifully illustrated booklet showcasing eight inspiring stories of grassroots action that also provide practical models that can be replicated or adapted. This is aimed at anyone seeking ideas or motivation to get involved in their community urban tree initiatives or start their own project. (If accessing the Booklet via mobile phone please follow this link for full functionality).
Together, these resources demonstrate that expanding the urban forest and working towards greater tree equity is as much about people and their places as it is about the trees. We invite you to explore the research outputs, share them with your networks, and use them in your existing and future work for greener, fairer towns and cities.
We’d like to thank all the organisations who got involved in this research project through interviews, collaboration meetings and the participatory workshop. Your generosity in sharing best practice, insights and challenges has been invaluable.
Download all the resources at: renewbiodiversity.org.uk/urban-trees
