The London Urban Forest Partnership

The London Urban Forest Partnership launched in 2020 as a city-wide network of organisations that collaborate to protect, manage and enhance the UK capital's trees and woodlands. The partnership is comprised of organisations with a strategic interest in London's trees and woodlands and includes representatives of public and private sector as well as charities. The partnership meets quarterly to share information and data, help inform tree related programmes in London and promote the benefits of the city's urban forest. In 2020, the partnership published a London Urban Forest Plan which sets out its priorities for action and provides the framework to guide the work of the partnership.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Agreement-based or cooperative instrument›Public-private community-based agreement

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Heat stress and heat island effect
Air quality
Social cohesion
Nature appropriation / stewardship
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The partnership implements actions that help achieve the London environment strategy target of increasing the London's canopy cover by 10% (3,300 hectares of additional canopy). The partnership's goals include creating more woodland, increasing number of trees on London streets and increasing numbers of trees in London's parks and green spaces.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Other

Good practice characteristics:

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Innovative

Inclusivity

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

The Greater London Authority and the Forestry Commission

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The London Urban Forest Partnership is convened by the Greater London Authority (local government) and the Forestry Commission (national government) who are accountable for coordinating the delivery of the partnership's activities. The partnership members include local and national level governmental institutions, professional associations, utilities, private companies, and charities. The partnership also collaborates with the wider community of organisations and Londoners responsible for the stewardship of London's urban forest and engage with the wider urban forest community in the UK and beyond.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private sector, corporate, business

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Type of actor involvement:

Co-planning or co-design of instrument (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The London Urban Forest Plan highlights the role played by supporters, members and volunteers of participating organisations in implementing London Urban Forest partnership. This includes citizens participating in London's tree-planting weekends (15,000 people in December 2018) and other tree-planting events; volunteers supporting management of key sites; Tree Warden groups working closely with the local authorities by planting, carrying and protecting trees in their communities and inspiring others to do the same. Among the goals set out by the partnership is supporting Londoners in playing an active role in the protection, growth and management of the urban forest. This includes Londoners protecting and planting trees in their own gardens, which make up approximately 20% of London's urban forest. Community engagement in tree and woodland planting and management activities provides additional resources and encourages greater use. Wider support and engagement can also help demonstrate the value of London’s urban forest to decision-makers.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public national budget

Public local authority’s budget

National Lottery funds

Budget:

500 000 € - 1 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

The individual organisations within the partnership fund secure funding for the actions they lead on. In 2022, Greater London Authority received a grant of circa €600,000 (£499,844) to deliver the London Urban Forest Plan from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. No other concrete data on financing has been identified.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

The London Urban Forest Plan, a document which provides a framework for the London Urban Forest Partnership's work, formulates six key performance indicators, against which the delivery of the actions of the partnership will be monitored. Those include percentage canopy cover in London, total number of street trees in London, area of ash and woodland and member of London boroughs which have a local urban forest plan.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

In 2020, the partnership delivered the London Urban Forest Plan, including 12 goals and individual actions supporting those goals as well as clear responsibilities between partners for those actions. The actions have been progressively delivered since 2020. The plan is being used by members of the partnership as part of funding bids to fund concrete activities. In 2022, for example, the Greater London Authority was able to use the Plan to secure a circa €600,000 (£499,844) grant to deliver the partnership's planned actions. As part of the London Urban Forest Plan, the London Tree Officers Association is working to encourage boroughs to share their tree data. This includes working toward the new national Individual Tree Data Standard to encourage a common approach to data collection and make it easier to combine data from multiple sources. The Partnership has also facilitated the emergence of concrete collaborative activities, such as the Urban Tree Festival.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The partnership brought together 25 key stakeholders that work with the city's trees and woodlands in different ways. This includes different departments and units of the local government, the relevant national government institutions, key professional associations and private companies, and charities that directly engaged Londoners in the care of urban trees and forests. As a result, the diversity of activities required to reach the partnership's goals can be comprehensively covered by actors with different powers, resources and scopes of responsibility. At the same time, the partnerships helps to avoid working in silos or multiple organisations working separately to address the same goals. The work of the partnership is formulated in individual goals and actions with clear lead and supporting responsibilities.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Mayor of London (2022), The London Urban Forest Partnership. Available at: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiversity/london-urban-forest-partnership

London Urban Forest Partnership (2020), London Urban Forest Plan. Available at: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/londonurbanforestplan_final.pdf

Heritage Fund (2022), Trees Call to Action Fund decisions, March 2022. Available at: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/publications/trees-call-action-fund-decisions-march-2022

They Work For You (2022), Questions to the Mayor of London – answered on 24th May 2022. Available at: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/london/?id=2022-05-24.1446.h

Urban Tree Festival (2022), London Tree and Woodland Awards: Inspiring people and projects. Available at: https://urbantreefestival.org/news/london-tree-and-woodland-awards

Urban Tree Festival (2021), Tree Rings Webinar: The London Urban Forest Plan. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQnYOA-WWKg

Further documents

Documents:

londonurbanforestplan_final.pdf

Weblinks:

https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiver…

Photos

@Los voluntarios de la conservación