As part of the ‘Connected Treescapes‘ project we’ve been exploring how people value trees to inform the design of future treescapes. Part of that work was a survey of 1800+ people. They’ll be more involved analysis published in the future, but there are some interesting results in the raw responses, for example, people have a closer relationship with trees than their neighbours!

Let’s take a closer look.

Despite the UK being one of the most deforested nations on the planet around 80% of people in our survey area thought they had plenty of trees within a five-minute walk of their home, and that those trees were very varied in age and species of tree. 25% even reporting that there are plenty of woodlands within 5 minutes of their home. We found similar views on the presence of other aspects of nature, such as wildflowers. These results perhaps reflect a ‘shifting baseline’ where each generation sees the current level of woodland as the norm.

When asking about engagement with trees, over 80% reported that they take notice of trees wherever they are, with only 7% disagreeing. 75% of people felt that large and noticeable trees were important to them, once again with only 7% disagreeing. Such that 50% of people reported having a ‘favourite tree’ they notice frequently. Trees are meaningful to people.

Although reporting the noticing of trees, and having favourite trees, when asked if they had a close relationship with trees, only 16% felt this was very close, although this is notably higher than the 7% who feel that they had a very close relationship with their neighbours. Perhaps people struggle to imagine a close and interconnected relationship with trees, but the difference to neighbours is interesting. Broadening these connections out, over 60% felt their relationship with nature more generally was an important part of their identity, with a similar proportion feeling very interconnected to all living things on Earth.

Although asking about people’s relationship with trees might seem unusual, it is those that feel a close relationship with the natural world who take most positive action towards it – and it tends to contribute to greater wellbeing also. Having a close emotional bond, such as having a favourite tree, is important, but it also important to feel closely connected to trees and the wider natural world. This need for a close bond with nature being needed to drive positive pro-nature behaviours is reflected in another aspect of the survey. Although three-quarters agreed that they always think about how their actions affect the environment, far fewer take action, from half planting pollinator friendly plants to just over a third providing homes for nature in their gardens. Only 8% reported taking action on local nature conservation issues, but then as we’ve seen most people thought there was plenty of trees and nature nearby.

We also asked about the benefits of trees. Over 90% realise and agree that trees bring better air quality (94%) and that they support wildlife (95%). With around 86% knowing that trees help prevent erosions/ flooding. 86% of respondents felt that trees are an important part of our history and heritage, and childhood (93%), with 73% recalling that they had a lot of contact with trees during their childhood.

Turning to threats to trees, 74% of respondents felt that urban development presented the greatest threat to trees, higher than climate change (65%) and diseases and pests (55%). However, although development can be a threat to some trees, in the long-term climate change is the bigger threat, through changes in the weather (e.g. droughts) and by creating more favourable conditions for many pests and diseases.

So, people notice trees, are aware of their benefits and they have a meaningful relationship with them – more so than with their neighbours. In some ways everything is a little too rosy as people tend to think there are plenty of trees and, therefore, unlikely to do a great deal to help restore woodland cover.