It's National Tree Week1, so let's hear it for trees: for giving excitable children through the ages a place to hide, climb, or swing; for offering us merciful shade through the summer and rustling leaves to kick through in autumn; for providing a natural home to a menagerie of arboreal animals, and structure and warmth to our built environment. These green giants grant us so much…they even taught Sir Isaac Newton a thing or two about gravity.
In many ways, trees are a perfect mirror of human behaviour - we put down roots, stretch out in the sun and, let's be honest, expand as we age. Just as a mirror inverts the image it reflects, while we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, trees respire in the reverse. And, while humanity may be the biggest cause of climate change, trees can be one of our most powerful weapons against it, acting as natural carbon capture machines.
They also help mitigate some of the damaging impacts of climate change, having a cooling effect on the air around them as moisture evaporates from their leaves, and providing flood protection both by acting as umbrellas intercepting rainfall before it reaches the ground, and when it does, absorbing water and locking it into soil through their sprawling root systems.
But this article is not about the environment. In fact, it isn't really about trees. It's about people.
When the iconic Sycamore of the eponymous Gap in Hadrian's Wall was felled last autumn, our collective grief was palpable. We lamented the senselessness of the act and the 200+ years of history cut short, and as stories from around the world poured in, it was clear that we also mourned the loss of an old friend.
I imagine many of us instinctively understand this emotional bond, and it is scientifically underpinned: proximity to trees releases oxytocin in our bodies, the hormone related to recognition and attachment. Trees therefore represent connectivity - and this was borne out quite literally prior to the digital age, when paper generated from their pulp was our primary means of communication.
Trees themselves are powerfully connected.
Studies have found that species co-exist communally, with mutually beneficial collaborations established inter-species. Above ground, we observe them as towering columns of self-sufficiency, but below ground they are connected through fungal systems called mycorrhizal networks. These connect their root systems, enabling the transfer of water and nutrients as you may expect, but also vital messages.
Trees are able to send distress signals about threats ranging from fire, drought, and disease, to pest and parasitic attacks…and astonishingly, other trees in their community alter their behaviour when they receive this information, bolstering their defence systems, making the forest as a whole more resilient.
Trees support resilience in humans too.
Antimicrobial phytoncides2 released in forests effectively act as an organic aromatherapy service, proving to be beneficial to our immune systems, nervous systems and circulation, as well as reducing stress and offering relief from anxiety and depression. Trees are also excellent filters, reducing air pollution, a leading cause of childhood asthma, by some 50%.
In short, trees are good for our health. In Japan, this is deeply understood and reflected in the practice of Shinrin-yoku - forest-bathing – as a recognised stress-management activity. Woodland comprises almost 70%3 of Japan’s footprint, though, whereas here in the UK tree cover is just 13%4 - and only 2.4% is the most valuable, ancient woodland. 43% of neighbourhoods in the UK have less than 10%5 tree cover, and just 16% of people in the UK have access to woodland within walking distance.
This lack of access to trees in itself is a genuine threat to all of our wellbeing, but tree inequity also compounds existing social inequalities. Higher income areas have been found to have more than double the tree cover6 per person than less affluent neighbourhoods, and urban communities are disproportionately affected by pollution-related sickness and deaths.
What I have described here may read as an abundance of environmental and social issues, but it is worth keeping in mind that these are also fundamentally economic risks. The cost of flooding in the UK can reach £1.4 billion in a year, while poor air quality is estimated to cost up to £20 billion annually. A UK study conducted by Forest Research revealed that visiting woodlands could potentially save our struggling NHS some £185 million7 in annual treatment costs for mental health related issues alone – with reforestation a potentially more attractive solution to the funding gap than those proposed in the Chancellor’s most recent budget!
Amidst the noise and negativity, however, hope springs eternal.
In August of this year, 12 new shoots sprouted from the stump of the felled Sycamore Gap tree, while seedlings are being grown from its twigs and seeds, a testament to the efforts of scientists and conservationists alike. We, too, can contribute to a much-needed renewal of British forestry more widely. Opportunities to support tree conservation efforts include engaging with local developments, lobbying politicians, planting schemes (whether on your own land or as part of a volunteer project), and participation in citizen science projects around wildlife sightings or recording all trees.
At LGT, we plant a tree for every client who elects to go paperless for their reporting – you can opt for this in your LGT Wealth app, so why not make that simple change today?
After all: mighty oaks, from little acorns grow.
[1] https://treecouncil.org.uk/seasonal-campaigns/national-tree-week/
[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2793341/
[3] https://www.statista.com/topics/10785/forestry-industry-in-japan/
[5] https://friendsoftheearth.uk/trees
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