The first tree planting season of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year is about to begin and scientific research compiled by The Woodland Trust highlights five compelling reasons why everyone should plant a garden tree for the Jubilee. The research covers five key areas; Wildlife, air quality, urban cooling, psychological wellbeing and water management.

Research highlights :

· The number of bird species increased by 3 for every additional 20% of tree cover¹

· Asthma rates among children aged four and five fell by a quarter for every² additional 343 trees per square kilometre (one in every garden on an average street)

· Concrete surfaces in tree shade can be up to 20°C cooler than concrete in sun³

· Tree shade can cool people by up to 7°C on hot days³

· Trees have been found to enhance mood, improve self esteem and lower blood pressure⁴

· Trees can reduce surface water runoff by up to 60 per cent compared to asphalt ⁵

There are 21.6 million homes in the UK with gardens, and many more with courtyards and balconies. What if at least 1 million people decided to plant a garden tree for the Jubilee, or put one in a pot on their balcony? What if whole streets decided to do this together? What a difference that would make to people and wildlife. Trees planted in adjacent gardens can bring many of the benefits of creating new woodland.

The Woodland Trust hopes that this strong scientific evidence will encourage people to be one in a million and pledge to plant a garden tree for the Jubilee.

And it wouldn’t be the first time that the UK has celebrated a Royal occasion by nationwide tree planting. The Royal Record of Tree Planting for King George VI’s Coronation records in fascinating detail the tree planting undertaken by thousands of schools, parishes, organisations and homeowners in 1936/7, and has been made available online for the first time today.

Georgina McLeod, Head of Jubilee Woods said: “Britons have long planted trees to mark special moments, especially Royal occasions. The Royal Record of tree planting for King George VI’s Coronation is an inspirational testament to this and is now available online for the first time so that everyone can find out what was planted in their town or village. It was an amazing achievement and we hope it will be an inspiration to everyone to be part of this new transformative planting movement for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee including a million trees being planted in February alone.”

2012 marks the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and throughout this historic 60th anniversary year the Woodland Trust’s Jubilee Woods project aims to plant 6 million trees involving millions of people – landowners, communities, schools and individuals at home- improving the environment for people and wildlife for the next 60 years and beyond .

Georgina McLeod continues: “People can search the Royal record to find a tree near them pledge to plant a tree, buy a tree and record their newly planted tree all at www.jubileewoods.org.uk It’s a chance for people to be part of something big and transform our local communities in a lasting celebration of the reign of one of Britain’s best loved Monarchs”

Free Jubilee tree packs are also available for communities and schools to plant in local areas and school grounds at www.jubileewoods.org.uk.

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

For more information please contact the Woodland Trust press office on 01476 581 121 or email stevemarsh@woodlandtrust.org.uk

Jubilee Woods project www.jubileewoods.org.uk

The Trust is offering people the gem of a chance to be at the heart of the Queen's 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations, by planting trees for The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The project aims to plant six million trees to celebrate The Queen’s reign and involve millions of people.The Woodland Trust is honoured to have support from the Queen as we pay tribute to her Majesty's 60-year reign by planting millions of native trees in the UK. We are delighted to have HRH The Princess Royal as patron of the project.

The project will see 60 Diamond Woods – Woods of over 60 acres being created across the UK

100s of Jubilee Woods - Woods up to 20 acres

1000s of FREE community tree packs containing 105 or 420 native tree species, these packs come in the following four themes, each containing a ‘royal oak’ sapling, grown from acorns collected on Royal Estates. Packs can be ordered for planting in autumn 2011 (closing date September), spring 2012 and autumn 2012.

Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading charity championing native woods and trees. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees. Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.

1. Wildlife

Gardens provide an important resource for wildlife. The abundance of flowering plants can help support a wide range of insects, which in turn provide food for birds and small mammals. Ponds, many of which have disappeared from the countryside, are common in urban gardens and provide important habitat for amphibians and aquatic invertebrates.

Research shows that as urban tree cover increases, so do the number of bird species (Fontana et al, 2011). On average, the number of species increased by three for every additional 20% of tree cover.

The use of native tree species creates the greatest opportunities for wildlife (Mizejewsk, 2011). Trees in gardens have been shown to be part of supporting populations of butterflies, and creating links across urban areas and between patches of habitat (Konvicka and Kadlec, 2011).

2. Air quality

Trees and woodland improve air quality by adsorbing pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone, intercepting harmful particulates from smoke, pollen and dust and of course release oxygen through photosynthesis. This can help to alleviate the problems caused by chronic respiratory disease.

Although some trees produce pollen which can affect a proportion of hay fever sufferers, the overall benefits of trees to air quality respiratory health are overwhelmingly positive (Hewitt 2005). Research by the British Lung Foundation suggests that one in every seven people in the UK is affected by lung disease, almost 8 million people (British Lung Foundation, http://www.lunguk.org/media-andcampaigning/media-centre/lung-stats-and-facts/factsaboutrespiratorydisease.htm accessed 4^th July 2011).

Trees will have a proportionately greater effect where they are close to sources of pollution and nearer to people who might be affected.

There is evidence that urban trees remove large amounts of air pollution and improve urban air quality (Nowak et al 2006). The UK has one of the world’s highest rates of childhood asthma, with about 15 per cent of children affected and a higher prevalence in lower socio economic groups in urban areas (Townshend 2007). Columbia University researchers found asthma rates among children aged four and five fell by a quarter for every additional 343 trees per square kilometre (Lovasi et al 2008).

Some tree species are better for air quality than others. Field maple, silver birch, elder and hawthorn are all small trees which are good for air quality. Some species emit biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) which can contribute to the generation of ground level ozone. These include oak and some species of willow – in many cases the size of these species also make them unsuitable as garden trees (Stewart et al 2002).

3. Urban heat island effect and shade

Increasing tree cover in urban areas can help mitigate the ‘urban heat island effect’. This occurs in towns and cities as the buildings, concrete and other hard surfaces such as roads act as giant storage heaters, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night. The resultant effects can be dramatic; on some days there is a difference of as much as 10^oC between city centres and the surrounding areas (British cities ‘could be up to 10^oC hotter than countryside by 2100’, Daily Telegraph online http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/5303682/British-cities-could-be-up-to-10C-hotter-than-countryside-by-2100.html., accessed 4^th July 2011) Projections for our changing climate suggest urban heat island effect will get markedly worse.

The problem is exacerbated by a lack of green space. Green space and trees in particular, provide both direct cooling from shade and reduce the ambient temperature through the cooling effect of evaporation and transpiration from the soil and plant leaves.

The impact on health of urban heat islands is two-fold; firstly higher temperatures increase ground level ozone, exacerbating the symptoms of chronic respiratory conditions. Secondly prolonged high temperature can precipitate cardiovascular or respiratory failure or dehydration, particularly amongst the elderly, very young or chronically ill (Bhattachary 2003). In the 2003 summer heat wave over 2,000 people died in Britain alone and more than 50,000 died across Europe.

Preliminary results from the itrees project, collaboration between Red Rose Community Forest and Manchester University, suggest that;

· Concrete surfaces in tree shade can be up to 20°C cooler than concrete in sun.

• Tree shade can cool people by up to 7°C on hot days

Research using computer modelling has shown how increasing urban green space can mitigate urban heat island effect. Without any increase in green space, by 2050 the temperature in Manchester is projected to rise by 3^oC. However if the amount of green space increases by just 10 per cent then the effects of climate change on increasing surface temperatures could potentially be mitigated. However, reducing tree cover by the same percentage could lead to an increase of 8.2^oC under some scenarios (Handley and Carter, 2006).

Providing direct shade in gardens reduces the risks from UV radiation (Heisler and Grant, 2000). Children’s’ skin is more sensitive to UV damage and the amount of sun exposure during childhood is thought to increase the risk of developing skin cancer in adult life. Shading is particularly important in gardens and where children play.

Radiant heat is also more important in terms of comfort than air temperature per se. Tree shading reduces the radiant temperature by up to 8⁰C greatly increasing human comfort (Ennos. 2010).

4. Psychological wellbeing

Trees not only provide physical benefits but can also be important to mental health. Trees and woods can have a restorative and therapeutic effect on the mind (Hartig et al 2005). Studies of cholecystectomy patients in hospital found that they recovered more quickly with a view of trees and nature from their windows (Ulrich 1984). More recent studies have looked at the beneficial effects of natural surroundings on children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Faber Taylor et al 2001).

Overall, the UK NEA (Watson et al., 2011) values the health and welfare benefits of greenspace at £30bn a year, with the value of living with a view of green space at £300 per person per year (Guardian.co.uk, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/02/uk-greenspaces-

value, accessed 4^th July 2011).

Trees have been found to enhance mood, improve self esteem and lower blood pressure. Research in the Netherlands and Japan indicated that people were more likely to walk or cycle to work if the streets were lined with trees and live longer and feel better as a result (Van den Berg et al 2003).

Two reports sponsored by RSPB published in 2004 (Bird 2004) and 2007 (Bird 2007) outlined the benefits to physical and mental health arising from contact with the natural environment. These included the reductions in obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stress, ADHD, aggression and criminal activity, amongst others.

5. Trees and water

Recent years have seen an increase in flooding. Many factors contribute to this. Clearly heavy and prolonged rainfall is a primary cause, and with climate change the occasions on which we suffer a deluge have increased UK Climate change projections (UK Climate Projections) and are likely to increase further. In towns and cities the increase in hard surfaces, unable to absorb rainfall, often mean drains are overwhelmed and water quickly collects on the surface rushing down streets and over paved areas. In London it is estimated that 3,200 ha of front gardens have been paved, and in Leeds an estimated 75 per cent of the increase in impervious surfaces that has occurred from 1971 to 2004 is a result of the paving of front gardens (Davies, 2011).

The Pitt Review following the 2007 flooding identified the paving over of front and rear gardens as having a major impact on drainage of surface water in towns and cities around two thirds of all the flooding in 2007 was as a result of surface water. The insurance cost of the 2007 floods was thought to have been around £3 billion, but the Environment Agency expect the regular annual cost of damage to property alone to be in excess of £1 billion. When the cost of further disruption, damage to infrastructure and loss of business is added this increases to £2.5 billion and could rise to £4 billion by 2035 (Environment Agency).

More trees in gardens could contribute to reducing the risk of flooding, and in particular surface water flooding, which threatens up to 3.8 million homes in the UK. Trees intercept rain and increase infiltration of water into the soil.

The potential for trees in managing flood risk was recognised in the Natural Environment White Paper for England (DEFRA 2011). Trees can decrease the rate at which rainfall reaches the ground and runs off into drains. This allows more time for the natural and man-made drainage system to take the water away, and can reduce the likelihood or severity of surface water inundating homes.

Interception by trees in urban areas can be critical in reducing the pressure on the drainage system (Gill, 2009) and lowering the risk of surface water flooding. Slowing the flow increases the possibility of infiltration and the ability of drains to take away any excess water.

Preliminary results from research by the University of Manchester has shown that trees can reduce surface water runoff by up to 60 per cent compared to asphalt (Armson et al 2011). The reduction in runoff, slowing the rate at which rainfall reaches the ground, increases the possibility of infiltration and the ability of engineered drains to take away any excess water.

When combined with other measures as part of sustainable urban drainage schemes, trees have an important role to play in consideration of flood risk.

Recent years have also seen a decline in the numbers of trees planted in urban areas which, combined with a loss of trees planted during the Victorian era, should send a warning signal about the future for urban tree cover (Britt and Johnston, 2008).