Krish and Raghav Kumar, BTP volunteers, professionally photographed by Phil Formby for WT's Tree Equity.

Urban Forest Volunteers

Our volunteers being interviewed by Woodland Trust

Two urban forest volunteers, smiling whilst measuring the height of a tree.
Street tree surveying in Nechells, 07/04/24

Volunteer planting: man's legs in red tousers on the left with a wheelbarrow, man of the right in all green mulching the base of the newly-planted tree.

  • Minworth Orchard
    A new orchard was planted last weekend in Minworth, alongside Minworth Action Projects and Friends of Stephens Pond & Berryfields Orchard. The crisp January morning consisted of the community coming together to plant 22 new fruit trees, opposite The Boat… Read more: Minworth Orchard
  • Family Legacy Tree Planting
    The time finally came for David Springer to plant a tree in memory of his brother, Benjamin Zephaniah, with his family from the Benjamin Zephaniah Family Legacy Group. David originally contacted us from the Family Legacy Group wanting to plant… Read more: Family Legacy Tree Planting
  • Enchanted Orchard Tree Planting
    Celebrating Benjamin Zephaniah and his love of fruit trees! 19th December we planted The Zephaniah Forest’s Orchard in Burbury Park. The Zephaniah Forest saw a momentous planting day take place on 19th December, where we teamed up with not only… Read more: Enchanted Orchard Tree Planting

Always remember: whilst all volunteers are valued volunteers, Urban Forest Volunteers are not (in most cases) qualified tree experts, and do not have special authority or jurisdiction. Please see the drop-down below on how to stay safe:

Appendix: Keeping Yourself Safe

As an urban forest volunteer, you should NEVER: 
• Enter private land without the owner’s agreement, even if this is to carry out simple tree maintenance activities such as removing tree ties or carrying out hedgerow or tree surveys.
• Advise whether a tree is safe: if it falls you would be liable, and you are not insured for this. This is the role of a professional arborist/tree officer.
• Undertake practical work without appropriate training and permissions or outside your physical ability.
• Attempt to handle tree disputes yourself or antagonise situations, trees can be an emotive subject and there are many reasons why people may not like trees just as there are many reasons why Tree Wardens love trees! Remember this is the local community in which you live so act reasonably and be willing to listen and compromise. If in doubt, refer to your local authority Tree Officer.
• Carry out chemical weed control without having completed the certificated training.
• Use a chainsaw without having completed the certificated training or without insurance.
• Carry out work on trees that could result in the disturbance of or destruction of wildlife during their breeding/nesting season.
• Bring your Volunteer Network, Birmingham TreePeople, into disrepute.


Volunteer hands graphic


Six recipients holding their L2 Arboriculture awards

Convinced? Sign up below, or download the form here:

Urban Forest Volunteer Application Form

If you’d like to become a volunteer, please complete this form.

Name(Required)
Address(Required)
Please provide your email address as the primary form of contact.
Please write your mobile or home phone number.
Please tell us your age or indicate a range.
Please specify your sex/gender and how you identify.
Please specify your ethnicity and/or nationality.
Please choose one or more from the following options (hold down control to multi-select).
Please write your relevant experience and qualifications here. If not, please write N/A.
Please tell us why you’re joining BTP as an urban forest volunteer. If you have a reason not listed, please write it in the additional comments box.
We will have insurance to cover you when you are taking part in BTP activities, but if you have any key health issues or disability we should be aware of, please write them below. If not, please write N/A.
Please provide us with contact name we can get in touch with in case of an emergency.
Please provide us with contact number we can get in touch with in case of an emergency.
Please let us know how you found BTP, whether it’s through social media, from a friend, our website, flyers, or something else (please specify).
If you have anything else you’d like to say/ask, like additional interests or activities not previously listed, please let us know here.
BTP collects information about our urban forest volunteers, so we can add you to our mailing list to contact you about training, events, and our newsletters. It also means we can ensure your safety during volunteer activities. This information is stored securely by the BTP Committee Secretary, and the privacy policy statement can be found below. When you terminate your volunteer status, all information held will be destroyed securely. If you agree to these terms, please write your full name in the box below.

Please see below our privacy policy statement, explaining why and how we store and use the information we gather from our urban forest volunteers.