STAND

Project Summary:

Overcoming scale-mismatch for designing and governing treescape expansion to benefit people and nature

Woodland creation forms a core part of the UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy, with a target to create 30,000 hectares of new woodland per year by 2024. Yet, national policy rarely maps neatly onto actions at lower scales, with this scale mismatch creating a barrier to effective treescape expansion.

This study will investigate how these national policies can work on a local and community level, and the barriers to their success.

STAND will use existing datasets to model future scenarios for achieving these national targets, while also considering impacts on food production and birdlife.

Researchers will study the feasibility of achieving national targets in two RSPB priority landscapes, Elenydd-Mallaen in Wales and North Pennines & Dales in England. They will engage with communities and land managers to understand opportunities and barriers to woodland expansion.