Increasing the diversity of our forests is an important way of strengthening them against future threats, such as climate change, pests and diseases. This diversity includes the age and species of trees, and also where seeds come from. We have created a ‘species for the future’ list that reflects this need, to help our expert teams better plan for trees needed in the forests of tomorrow.
Why tree species diversity is important
Planting a wide range of tree species protects forests against threats, including pests, diseases, changing temperatures, wildfires, and winter storms. Different species will adapt in different ways, so planting lots of different species spreads the risk and increases resilience to a bigger range of threats.
With these clear benefits, planting more diverse forests should be an easy decision. However, planting a wider range of species takes time and costs money. We also need to make sure the trees we plant will survive where they’ve been planted and are suitable for each site’s unique characteristics – we need the right tree in the right place.
Where do the trees we plant come from?
We depend on seed nurseries to provide young trees for us to plant. Most of the trees that we plant at Forestry England are grown in our own nursery in Delamere Forest. The young trees are grown here until they are between one and five years old, depending on the species. This gives them a better chance of survival when they’re planted in the forest. However, it also means the nurseries need to know what trees we intend to plant up to five years in advance.
Our seed nurseries have to source seeds to grow every year. The nursery teams consider things like where the seeds have come from, and how easy they’ll be to grow in the nursery. Focusing on lots of different species at once can make this planning and preparation stage tricky. Our ‘species for the future’ list helps our nursery teams adapt to our changing tree orders.
How we predicted our species for the future
To better understand the tree species we needed to plant more of, we had to consider future conditions and future priorities.
First, we asked experts across Forestry England what the most important factors will be when deciding what trees to plant in the future. Their answers included adaptability to the future climate, resistance to pests and diseases, growing speed, and availability of seeds.
We then used the most up-to-date scientific evidence to score tree species based on these factors. With a few final tweaks based on expert advice, we selected the top 30 highest-scoring tree species as our species for the future. If you would like to know more about the process we went through, you can read about our methodology here.
Our list of tree species for the future
- Aspen (Populus tremula)
- Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
- Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
- Common alder (Alnus glutinosa)
- Corsican pine (Pinus nigra subsp. laricio)
- Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
- Downy birch (Betula pubescens)
- European silver fir (Abies alba)
- Field maple (Acer campestre)
- Grand fir (Abies grandis)
- Grey alder (Alnus incana)
- Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
- Japanese red cedar (Cryptomeria japonica)
- Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia)
- Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce)
- Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster)
- Norway spruce (Picea abies)
- Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur)
- Red oak (Quercus rubra)
- Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)
- Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)
- Sessile oak (Quercus petraea)
- Silver birch (Betula pendula)
- Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)
- Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa)
- Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)
- Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
- Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)
- Wild cherry (Prunus avium)
- Wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis)
