Vital role of UK forests - LJMU report
An evaluation of Britain’s largest reforestation scheme has underlined the vital role of trees in the nation’s economic and environmental future.
A report by Liverpool John Moores University Today (December 1, 2025) outlines the ‘breadth and depth’ of woodland’s contribution to net zero, biodiversity, water and air quality.
Environmental scientists at the University’s Natural Capital Hub measured the ecological benefits of 11 million trees planted across the country from 2020 to 2025 – the largest publicly funded new woodland scheme the country has ever seen.
It is the first calculation of the ‘green return’ on the £725m Nature For Climate Fund run by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) which underpinned the expansion of community forests and other woodland creation partnerships across the country and a host of planting initiatives via The Forestry Commission, National Trust and the Woodland Trust.
LJMU’s Dr Colm Bowe, who led the research, said: “We are seeing just how important trees are to the health and wellbeing not only of Nature but of us.
“The degradation of Nature is no longer just environmental issue, it is also social, economic and financial and investment in trees and forests can make a huge difference.”
Dr Bowe’s team used state-of-the-art mapping techniques to examine 5,630 planting sites covering 8,724 hectares – approximately 11 million trees.
Key findings:
- By 2050, the new woodlands are projected to take in 1.5 to 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking 12,500 cars off the road.
- By 2025, the amount of land classed as ‘ecological networks’ will double to 16,279 hectares (70 square miles). This refers to land which links habitats allowing species can move through landscape and not be ‘siloed’.
- New woodland, especially in the North, is helping species to translocate in response to rising temperature.
- Air quality – trees absorb 300 tonnes of pollutants each year, with most benefit in areas of highest pollution, ie urban areas.
- Water quality: woodland plays a significant part in preventing run off from industry and agriculture into rivers and lakes
- By 2050, the new woodland is projected to reduce the flow of water into rivers and lakes by 44m cubic metres.
The impact of the Nature for Climate Fund has been felt across the country in 259 local authorities and in rural and urban areas. Added Dr Bowe: “The programme supports planting where people live and thus impacts their quality of life directly but trees they can be effective anywhere and that’s what makes them such a valuable tool for nature recovery.”
