(pronounced: mee-yah-wah-key)
As a nation, we value trees and, believe it or not, we have more trees now than at any time in the last 200 years. That sounds encouraging, but, according to the Tree Council, only about 13% of the UK is covered in trees, which is much less than most of Europe. Our government says it is committed to planting many more trees, but climate change is making that harder than it once was. More storm events, longer periods of drought, and novel pests and diseases are already having a significant impact on our ability to increase tree cover.
A Rocha UK and our Partners in Action have responded in two ways. Firstly, we have planted a lot of trees! In 2025, the network planted over 120,000 trees, of over 25 native species, right across the UK. We have also engaged with ‘experimental tree planting’…
Four Partners in Action have received grant funding from A Rocha International to help us monitor and evaluate a novel approach to tree planting – the Miyawaki technique. This technique originated in Japan and involves planting a wide mix of tree species together in very high densities – three, four or five trees per square metre. Research indicates that trees planted in very close proximity seem to grow faster and are more resistant to drought, disease, and floods. We will be piloting this work on those four sites and comparing the results to a more traditional approach. We will keep you posted!
In this season of rapid environmental breakdown, creativity and innovation are needed more than ever – creating more nature-rich woodlands will take imagination and determination. Experimenting with new species and new techniques could be part of the answer, but we will need to be determined and resilient. When things go wrong, we have to dig deep (no pun intended) and keep going. In trialling the Miyawaki technique, we expect some of the trees to die, but, as we are now seeing with ash dieback, all may not be lost – there is growing evidence that a small percentage of our ash trees can survive this fungal infection. Nature proves time and time again that it can be remarkably resilient, but we need to play our part and do what we can to support local tree planting initiatives. This is precisely what we are doing at A Rocha UK.
