Tree Equity means that everyone has equal access to trees.
Tree Equity has been an important factor in the decisions we’ve made for our tree strategy. Through our Urban Forest Masterplan, and the Urban Forest Accelerator programme, increasing canopy cover in our priority wards has been equity focused.
Originally assisting The Woodland Trust as consultants during the preliminary phase, Birmingham TreePeople contributed towards the launch of WT’s Tree Equity Score, by demonstrating and explaining some of the work we have already been doing in the City of Birmingham, with the Urban Forest Masterplan.
Birmingham TreePeople’s relationship with Woodland Trust has developed further, as both charities are contributing towards the Urban Forest Accelerator, where our joint focus on tree equity is a prominent feature of the project. BTP have been planting in the wards we have due to those areas having low tree equity. So, what exactly is Tree Equity, and why does it matter to us?
Low tree equity means that an area is lacking in trees, and an area with high tree equity has most benefits of green spaces. That’s why our priority wards targeted areas with lower canopy cover, to raise the tree equity. Woodland Trust say:
Tree equity is the idea that all communities have equitable access to the benefits of trees where they live. While some urban areas enjoy abundant greenery and tree cover, others lack these essential natural assets.
Woodland Trust
Tree Equity Photography, Nechells
Charlotte McDermott, BTP’s Communications Officer, along with Krish Kumar and Raghav Kumar, took the group from WT (Catherine, Amber, and Phil) to Nechells, one of our priority wards where we planted with the community last year, to capture many professional photos of good and bad tree equity, including our wonderful urban forest volunteers to be the face of the equity score campaign. Catherine interviewed our volunteers about their relationship with nature, and why they volunteered with BTP. The young men also proved to be incredibly photogenic, and Raghav showed Phil (professional photographer) some of his amateur photography skills! See them on the left in front of Home and Queens, Nechells, where we planted trees in 2023 to raise the equity.
Tree Equity Seminar with Woodland Trust
After working with The Woodland Trust previously, Birmingham TreePeople were invited to attend and present at their internal Tree Equity seminar 8th February, to display the fantastic work that was done last year for National Tree Week 2023. We gathered at Nechells POD, one of our partners for last year’s planting, in one of the very wards we went onto talk about.
Charlotte McDermott, BTP Communications Officer, and Ian McDermott, BTP Trainer and Arboriculturalist, attended the morning seminar, where Charley gave an interactive presentation about the successes and struggles of Tree Week 2023. She also planned a tree walk around Nechells, to show The Woodland Trust team some of the nearby tree planting locations. The presentation and walk both demonstrated the on-the-ground tree equity work that has driven the focus of our planting season. See our blog, reel below, to read about our planting seasons, and other activities, pushing this work forward.
