Leading Arboricultural and Ecological Consultants

Trees and Urban Climate Adaptation
A social agenda for liveable cities
In partnership with the Forestry Commission

19th November 2009

The Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR

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This conference builds upon the success of the 2008 Trees: The Key to Climate Proofing Our Cities conference focusing on the University of Manchester’s research showing the influence of green infrastructure on the urban climate.

Available data underpin the case for ensuring there is no avoidable loss of large-canopy urban trees, providing for future large trees in urban design and planning, and bringing our parks into city streets. To effect necessary change, no change in legislation is necessary – but rather a co-ordination and re-direction of thinking and practice.

This conference aims to mobilise policy makers and the wider community to ensure a sustainable urban forest canopy capable of meeting future climate adaptation needs. The urban canopy agenda will be met by including climate adaptation within the national health and well-being agenda.

Neville Fay chairs conference sessions	Prof John Handley, University of Manchester Conference Chair
Tim Rollinson, Director General of the Forestry Commission, chairs conference sessions	Diane Smith, Town and Country Planning Association

Speakers

Professor John Handley OBE, University of Manchester
Conference Chair

Tim Rollinson, Director General of the Forestry Commission
Keynote Address

Neville, Treework Environmental Practice
Arboriculture’s role in trees and climate adaptation

Dr Susannah Gill, University of Manchester
The essential role of trees: Adapting cities to climate change by managing high temperatures and reducing pressure on drainage systems

Isabel Dedring, Mayoral Advisor on the Environment
The spatial framework for London and the importance of London’s urban canopy

Dr Mark Johnston MBE, Myerscough College
Trees in Towns II: Government recognition of urban forest needs

Martin Kelly, MD Capita Lovejoy / Trees and Design Action Group
Big trees in the four-dimensional urban realm

Diane Smith, Town & Country Planning Association
Planning for eco-towns: Water and green Infrastructure, A European perspective

Tony Hutchings, Forest Research
The Forest Research Climate Change and Street Trees project

Eugene Dreyer, Terry Farrell & Partners
The Thames Gateway: The design vision and creating treed infrastructure

Dr Paula Vandergert, Commission for Architecture in the Built Environment (CABE)
Sustainable cities: Creating tools for better green urban design

Pete Stringer, Red Rose Forest
Green infrastructure: A vehicle for working with communities to tackle climate change

Katie Roberts , Trees for Cities
Securing urban trees through community involvement: Planting street and community trees in disadvantaged urban locations

Paula Vandergert (CABE); Katie Roberts (Trees for Cities); Eugene Dreyer (Terry Farrell & Partners); Pete Stringer (Red Rose Forest); Martin Kelly, (Trees and Design Action Group); Tim Rollinson (DG Forestry Commission); Dr Mark Johnston MBE (Myerscough College); Neville (Treework); Professor John Handley OBE (University of Manchester); Tony Hutchings (Forest Research); Dr Susannah Gill (University of Manchester); Diane Smith (TCPA)

This September Neville Fay was honoured with the prestigious Arboriculture Association’s 2009 Annual Award for Continued Services to Arboriculture.

The award was given in recognition of Neville’s efforts to raise the level of knowledge in arboriculture, specifically through the Treework Environmental Practice seminar and conference series. Through a philosophy of holistic arboriculture he has endeavoured to bring this perspective to tree safety and veteran tree management, recently focusing on the climate change debate to bring practical solutions through raising the national importance of trees and climate control.

In his acceptance speech at the conference dinner, Neville said that he shared the award with many friends and colleagues in arboriculture, who have inspired and supported him in his continued endeavours towards broadening practice to encompass holistic approaches to the soil, climate change, realistic attitudes towards tree risk management and long-term veteran tree care.

Neville said, “This award is as much an honour for me personally as it is for all my dedicated and inspiring friends and colleagues at Treework Environmental Practice and in the Ancient Tree Forum”.

Treework Environmental Practice and Tim Moya Associates provide MyTrees database and GIS free with Tree Surveys.

Treework Environmental Practice and Tim Moya Associates, leading UK arboricultural practices, are well known for their comprehensive tree assessment and management services which are available throughout the UK. In a joint venture with Safe Trees in the Czech Republic they have developed MyTrees, tree management database and GIS, to help landowners and property managers to pro-actively manage their tree populations

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Treework Environmental Practice is proud to announce that it has become an Associate Member of The Tree Council, the UK umbrella body for organisations concerned with tree care, planting and conservation. Amongst its many activities the Tree Council educates and engages people through National Tree Week and through heritage conservation initiatives such as Green Monument campaign for tree protection and the Hedge Tree campaigns.

Becoming an associate member of the Tree Council is a natural progression from our existing work with the National Tree Safety Group, Middlesex University (Decision and Risk Management Department), the Forestry Commission (on climate change adaptation) and the Trees and Design Action Group (conservation, design and planning for large canopy trees in cities).

The Tree Council recognises the fundamental role of trees in their contribution to the unique quality of the British landscape, to our towns and cities, being essential to our biodiversity heritage and to human well-being and survival

Through its association with Tree Council, Treework Environmental Practice wishes to contribute to good management practice, conservation and the celebration of trees. We hope that as an associate Member we will support the Tree Council in improving the awareness of the benefits of trees and to influence government policy and good professional practice.

As a company we pride ourselves on our innovation and we have invested in improving the awareness and understanding of the contribution that trees make to our environment, from the habitat that old trees provide to the ways in which large trees help to “climate proof” our urban environment.

Treework Environmental Practice hopes to support the Tree Council, whose strength lies in its influence and breadth of involvement, with a unique ability to promote co-operation between professionals and mobilise the tree sector to engage at a political level to affect policy.

About The Tree Council: http://www.treecouncil.org.uk/?q=about-us

After six years of promoting and applying the concept of tree statics as a method for assessing tree stability, Treework Environmental Practice are now proud to be the first company in the UK to purchase recently developed instruments in order to be able to offer a static load test and tree structural assessment (often referred to as the pulling test) in house, as part of an extensive and expanding range of arboricultural services. It is envisaged that Local Authorities, tree owners, land managers and arboricultural consultants will all see the potential offered by the static load test in the management of risks posed by the most valuable amenity and urban trees.

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Trees, Roots, Fungi, Soil (Part 2)

Towards a model of good soil practice for arboriculture
30th June 2009
Linnean Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BF

There is much to be gained from an effective dialogue between ecology and arboriculture if we are to reach a meaningful understanding of health and pathogenicity in relation to soil and roots.

Understanding the soil rooting environment should be the first port of call for all practitioners involved in tree care. Arboriculture to date has been poorly served by ‘science’ with regard to the soil. While there is common use of expensive trunk decay investigation devices, there is no available conventional toolkit for looking at the soil as a matter of routine.

Without a clear understanding of functioning soil ecology, there is no ecological basis for restoration, where tree stress implies problems with the soil. One consequence of this is a focus on pests and diseases, inputs and outputs and agrichemical solutions. This seminar explored these themes and the prospects for a meaningful dialogue between adherents to the inputs-outputs and eco-system models.

Speakers

• Professor David Cutler, President of the Linnean Society
  Welcome and Introduction

• Dr Alan Rayner
  The Dynamic Relationship of Trees and Fungi: Symbiosis and pathology
• Dr Ken Thompson, University of Sheffield
  If Trees Could Speak, What Would They Be Trying to Tell Us? An ecologist wonders why trees fail

• Dr Vinodh Krishnamurthy, Laverstoke Park
  An Organic Diagnostic Model: Testing soils, understanding functioning, managing deficiencies

• Dr Lee Klinger, Independent Scientist and Consultant, California
  Forest Vegetation and Soil Succession: The natural process of change

• Dr Olaf Ribeiro, Ribeiro Tree Evaluations Inc, Seattle
  Notes from a Soil Laboratory: Soil analysis first, treatment of trees second (pathogenicity and remediation)

• Prof Clive Edwards Ohio State University
  Understanding Earthworms: Indicators of soil quality and productivity and their use in bioremediation

• Dr Declan Barraclough, Environment Agency
  G. K. Chesterton and the Soil Problem: Is there a relation between soil properties and tree health?

Melton Borough Council shares contract with partner Councils. Inter-Authority collaboration will result in workforce and cost efficiency benefits.

Treework Environmental Practice is pleased to announce that they have been awarded a contract to provided Tree Risk and Condition Surveys for The Borough of Melton and District of Harborough. The contract is also available to other Local Authorities in Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire.

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ecosulis ltd and Treework Environmental Practice today announced a partnership under which the companies will work together to provide both ecological and tree consultancy and contracting services across the whole of the UK.  As leaders in their fields the companies will partner to bring together their specialist technical expertise to strengthen their offering and increase efficiency which they can pass on to customers in terms of value for money.

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The are just a few places still available for the Treeworks Environmental Practice Seminar XIII - Trees, Roots, Fungi, Soil (Part 2), Towards a model of good soil practice for arboriculture on 30th June 2009 at the Linnean Society in London.

It should be noted that Professor Clive Edwards will be taking the place of Dr Mark Hodson as previously advertised. Professor Edwards is recognised as world authority on earthworms, his book The Ecology and Biology of Earthworms is going into its fourth edition.

To more details or to Book a Place online please visit Treeworks Environmental Practice Seminars Bookings

We would like to welcome our latest addition to the Treeworks Environmental Practice team, Will Gardner. Will previously worked as an Archaeological Surveyor and contributed to a number of projects for the Royal Commission and National Parks, identifying Archaeological sites and producing detailed landscape characterisation.

His role at Treeworks will focus on developing a new department, culminating the management of hardware and software for carrying out tree surveys as well as the ongoing testing and support of Treeworks Environmental Practice’s exciting new tree management software MyTrees. It is also anticipated that he will coordinate our expansion into mapping services.