The United Kingdom plans to plant 20 million trees to create a “new national forest” in the west of the country. While this country, which has very few forests and whose natural resources have been greatly depleted, does indeed need more trees, it is important not to oversimplify the process without paying attention to the details. The goal is not simply to create a dense forest, but a diverse mosaic of environments, including forests with clearings, orchards, pastures, and hedgerows.
The “ideal future” for the United Kingdom would consist of more extensive and diverse forests in the landscape, to limit the edge effect and preserve the forest microclimate. A diversity of tree species, most of them native, will also help these forests adapt to climate change. To achieve this:
- Proper planning and management of forest areas is required, as well as a large-scale situation analysis prior to the planned work (existing habitats, soil type, wildlife density, etc.).
- Digital tools are useful aids for planners, as they can be used to model a combination of characteristics, particularly land and climate, and identify the best planting conditions as the climate changes.
- In addition to planting, existing old trees should also be supported rather than replaced. New forests could serve as buffer zones to protect old stands from edge effects, or establish connections between fragmented forests or isolated trees in the landscape matrix.
- In this “ideal future,” controlling the density of wild ungulates is an important consideration. A promising solution to this problem is to plant small plots of land with a variety of tree species, which are then protected during their first few years. A balance must therefore be found with this wildlife, which, if managed correctly, also contributes to forest dynamics by creating clearings through grazing.
- Finally, involving local communities will enable the British to better understand and appreciate the evolution of their environment.