Vision and Objectives
The overarching objective of the Future of UK Treescapes programme is to significantly improve the environmental, socio-economic and cultural understanding of the functions and services provided by UK treescapes, in order to inform decision-making on the expansion of future treescapes for the benefits of the environment and society.
A holistic approach will be required to capture interactions across spatial and temporal scales and trophic levels, alongside socio-economic and cultural responses and management interventions. The programme seeks to exploit innovative remote sensing, analytical, and genetic technologies, arts and humanities, and social science methodologies, as well as the creation and linking of environmental, social and economic datasets to cultural and behavioural knowledge that will transform our understanding of treescape form, function, and feedbacks.
The programme will advance and test new measurements of, and approaches to, landscape management and use. It will respond to current climate and rural economy policy priorities and future environmental and economic necessities, and recognise the new opportunities afforded through growing investments in green markets and the bioeconomy.
It is hoped that this programme will also provide stakeholders with a coherent and impactful research base for understanding the present services of, and future pathways for, UK treescapes in response to environmental, socio-economic, and cultural drivers. A key outcome from the programme will be the tools and capacity to characterise the impact of varying treescape form and location upon the ecosystem services and evidence to support benefits that might be delivered by ‘environmental net gain’ policies.
The three following research themes have been identified to address the overarching objective.