How to protect and manage the urban forest
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-01)

Find out how you can protect and manage trees and woodlands in urban areas.

What is the urban forest?

The urban forest is all the trees you can see in any town or city. Urban trees grow on streets, next to railways and canals, in parks, in people’s gardens and in urban woodlands. Looking after the urban forest is the practice of managing all trees and woodlands in urban areas for the multiple benefits they provide to society.

The Forestry Commission co-ordinates the Urban Forestry and Woodland Advisory Committee (FWAC) Network (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/forestry-and-woodlands-advisory-committees). This network of people, who work mostly with trees in urban areas, provides expert advice to the Forestry Commission on its urban forestry work.

Read the Urban FWAC Network’s vision for urban forestry (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-urban-forestry-and-woodland-advisory-committee-networks-vision/the-urban-fwac-network-vision).

For previous versions of the vision, refer to the National Archives (https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20250603170623/https:/www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-protect-and-manage-the-urban-forest).

Benefits of the urban forest

The urban forest provides many different benefits to our urban areas, most notably:
- improving the quality of the air by removing dust, polluting gases and other substances that are harmful to people
- making people feel better when they spend time in places with trees
- making different locations like parks, woodlands, squares and shopping areas enjoyable places to visit and in which to spend time
- creating shade to cool down buildings and open spaces
- cooling places down by releasing water vapour into the air
- providing places within trees’ trunks, branches and leaves for animals and other plants to live
- providing a source of food for animals and people too
People and the urban forest

The urban forest provides opportunities to engage local communities and also provides a unique green space that benefits people’s mental and physical health.

Find out more about the benefits to mental and physical health in these blogs:
- mental health benefits: Trees for Streets (https://www.treesforstreets.org/how-trees-support-our-mental-health/#:~:text=Trees%20lower%20our%20blood%20pressure,our%20mental%20and%20physical%20health)
- physical health benefits: Woodland Trust (https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/habitats/urban-trees-and-woodland/#:~:text=They%20support%20plants%20and%20animals,roosting%20spots%20for%20pied%20wagtails.&text=Trees%20in%20urban%20areas%20can%20also%20reduce%20temperatures%20and%20noise%20pollution)
Urban forest managers often find it a positive experience to engage the local community in working out the objectives for a piece of woodland to maximise the benefits that the woodland can deliver to the community.

Trees are also an important element of the government’s ‘Green Infrastructure Framework for England’. Read more about the multiple benefits of trees for people in our towns and cities: Introduction to the Green Infrastructure Framework (https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/GreenInfrastructure/Home.aspx).

Climate change resilience and the urban forest

Planting and caring for urban trees will help reduce the challenges climate change brings to urban areas. We need to grow trees that are suitable for climate conditions now and in 40 to 50 years from now.

We should plant different types of trees within the urban forest. This is called species diversity and it is one of the ways to protect the urban forest as a whole, so it can continue to provide multiple benefits to our urban areas.

Read guidance on species diversity and managing urban trees for climate change resilience:
- Right trees for changing climate database (http://www.righttrees4cc.org.uk/about.aspx#:~:text=The%20database%20tool%20developed%20by,face%20of%20new%20emerging%20threats): helps you decide which trees are suitable for the future climate where you live
- Trees and Design Action Group’s tree selection guide (https://www.tdag.org.uk/tree-species-selection-for-green-infrastructure.html) - which can help you select appropriate species for a range of contrasting planting scenarios
- The Urban Tree Manual (https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/urban-tree-manual/): advice on selecting and procuring the right tree for the right place in urban areas
- Forest Research’s Climate Change Hub (https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/climate-change/): information and tools for protecting our woodlands and forests
Looking after the urban forest

Managing the urban forest is not only about tree species selection and planting. Looking after trees throughout their entire lives takes a range of skills and expertise.

It is important that landowners take a long-term view of caring for their trees and are prepared to provide enough resources to do this properly.

The following guides provide more information on good practice in managing urban trees:
- Trees for Cities (https://www.treesforcities.org/): case studies and guidance on tree planting and management in urban areas
- London Tree Officers Association (https://www.ltoa.org.uk/) - multiple advice pages on a range of topics
- Forestry Commission’s highway tree management (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highway-tree-management-operations-note-51): looks at good practice tree and highway management
Managing risks including tree health in the urban forest

Successful management of the urban forest requires particular attention to tree health as often a tree health problem can indicate a risk for people too. Urban areas are often seen as presenting a more substantial disease threat mainly because of more dense populations of both trees and people.

Urban areas are also a potential source for the introduction of new pests and diseases because of the intensity of activity and high volumes of travel, trade and their interaction.

Find out more about tree pests and diseases (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tree-pests-and-diseases) and make sure your biosecurity measures are appropriate (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-the-introduction-and-spread-of-tree-pests-and-diseases).

If you are concerned that a tree you own, or one in your urban environment, has a pest or disease report it using Tree Alert. (https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/tree-alert/)

Successful management of the urban forest also involves ensuring that trees do not present a physical threat to the safety of people and infrastructure. Find out more:
- National Tree Safety Group (https://ntsgroup.org.uk/) publishes guidance for landowners on how to fulfil their duty of care as tree owners
- Joint Mitigation Protocol (https://www.ltoa.org.uk/resources/joint-mitigation-protocol) sets out a mutually agreed process between building insurers and local authority landowners on how building damage claims should be handled, processed and investigated when trees are thought to be causing a problem
Data on the urban forest

We can measure the size of the urban forest in a particular area by assessing its tree canopy cover. Forest Research (https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/) (part of the Forestry Commission) has undertaken tree canopy cover measurements across the UK down to very local levels. You can look at these measurements and also add some of the trees in your area too.

Find out more at:
- Treezilla (http://www.treezilla.org/) - a citizen science project where you can help record the urban trees where you live
- Forest Research’s tree canopy cover map for the UK (https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/i-tree-eco/uk-urban-canopy-cover) - showing the extent of the urban forest
If you have further questions about the urban forest in your area, visit your local authority website or contact your local authority tree officer.