FAQ

If you have questions we haven't answered here, please contact us.

What kind of sites are you looking for?

At the moment we're looking for sites of at least two hectares. We won't consider dry peat bogs, or highly productive food growing sites. Land that, from an agricultural perspective, is considered marginal or "degraded" would be ideal. We want to increase carbon sequestration, but we also want to hugely increase biodiversity, all without impacting food production.

Fragments of ancient or established forest are of interest, or even lone old trees. They are ready-made sources of biodiversity, not just from tree seeds, but all the animals, plants, and microbes they support, especially mycorrhizal fungi. If we protect these fragments with our sites, we can allow them to expand, and start regenerating the local environment.

Rehabilitating ex-industrial sites is a possibility. This has challenges in terms of land clearance, compaction, and soil contamination. But it's certainly something we want to consider.

We're also considering urban sites. Urban sites present different challenges, but forests in urban locations can have huge benefits in terms of mental health, cooling, and pollution reductions, so we are definitely open to the idea.

If you'd like to talk to us about a potential site, please contact us:

How do the trees just turn up?

Sometimes old tree seeds are already present in the soil, patiently waiting for the right conditions to germinate.

Some trees species specialise in being the first to populate new sites, their seeds tend to blow around easily on the wind.

Animals will also move tree seeds around to create food stashes, some of those seeds will germinate. Squirrels are famous for this, but other animals do it to, for instance jays will fly several miles to bury acorns and other seeds.

Why buy the land?

The UK is a relatively small country, with a relatively high population density. There will always be pressure on land from many potential uses. By buying appropriate sites we can guarantee that the regenerating forest ecosystems will be around for the long-term, and able to reach their full biodiversity and carbon capturing potential.

We are absolutely open to working with land owners, where suitable long-term management plans can be agreed. We need as much appropriate, native forest as possible, as quickly as possible. And we may also need land for other uses, such as nursery sites. But our core value will always be supporting forests that can be around for the really long-term.

If you're a land owner and would like to contact us we'd love to here from you.

What about existing forests?

We want to concentrate on creating new forests, especially where they can connect existing habitats. If we buy land with a few veteran trees, or fragments of old forest, we will protect the area around them and allow them to expand.

I'm not in the UK, can I support you?

Yes you can. And although some of the benefits of growing forests are local others, like sinking carbon, have a global impact.

Are you just looking for UK sites?

For now yes, but what works in the UK will work in most temperate climates, and climate change and biodiversity loss are global issues. We should certainly be able to apply this approach anywhere in northern Europe with minimal modification.

Are you just looking at growing forests?

For now yes, but there are other important ecologies in the UK, which sink carbon and provide vital habitat and climate change resilience. For instance, there are some research projects looking at the viability of reintroducing seagrass meadows to the UK's coastal waters.

Are forests more important than other habitat types?

Absolutely not, we need a rich diversity of habitat types in the UK to combat climate breakdown and biodiversity collapse. We need to re-wet our peatlands, and support our mixed grasslands. For now this project will focus on the UK's severely depleted forest cover, but only at appropriate sites, and never at the cost of other rare habitats.

Is sinking carbon, or creating biodiversity more important?

Neither. Climate breakdown and biodiversity collapse are two symptoms of the same set of problems. We aim to create wild, biodiverse habitats, doing so will always sink carbon, as well as providing many other benefits.

Are you related to the Australian organisation, "ReForest Now?"

Not in any way. But we do love their work, and we hope they are a huge success. Perhaps we can do a joint blog post on our shared goals, similarities and differences in the future. You can read more about their fantastic work protecting and expanding Australian rainforest ecosystems here.

Is this going to solve everything?

No, there is no one thing that can fix this broad collection of issues. We need a huge variety of solutions, some coming down from government and other large organisations, some coming up from grass-roots movements and individuals. None of these will be the answer on their own, but together they will bring about the massive change we need.

We're going to start with support from bottom-up community efforts via crowdfunding and subscriptions. Once that is working, we'll give government and large organisations the opportunity to contribute.