Kenton Rogers of Treeconomics, a social enterprise which offers urban forest planning, management and monitoring services, made a well-received presentation at the recent Big Barn Conference held at Barcham Trees’ Cambridgeshire nursery. He gave a talk on the London i-Tree scheme and its implications for urban forestry management throughout the UK. I-Tree is a free-to-use software suite, which quantifies urban forest structure, function and values.
With the Mayor of London setting definite tree aims of a five per cent increase in canopy cover by 2025 and a further five per cent by 2050, London’s urban forest is still being interpreted. He explained that working with communities has an excellent social dimension, and that it is desirable to capitalise on citizens’ enthusiasm.
Rogers mentioned birch, lime and malus are the three most populous genera in inner London, where there are 46 trees per hectare, while oak, sycamore and hawthorn are the most populous in outer London, where there are 55 trees per hectare. He believes London’s urban forest should be strategically managed as a single resource covering the whole of Greater London, where i-Tree can also help with species selection.
To request a booklet which outlines the services offered by Treeconomics, e-mail info@treeconomics.co.uk or telephone 01323 768155.
