Informative and Informal – Arboricultural Association Conference 2025

The faces of delegates leaving the Arboricultural Association conference at Warwick University told the story; tired and excited from taking in 2 days of over 20 presentations and workshops, and from convivial conversations with colleagues from around the UK and beyond.

Many saying “this is the best conference I have attended!”

We were there, in the form of our Director, Luke Fay, James Butler-White, and Claire Harbinson, who chaired the morning session on the second day.

Luke presented in the last session on the first day with Joe Fennell, on their work to develop allometric equations from existing tree data. It being the last session, Luke woke everyone up by getting them to do an online poll on ‘How Many Digital Tree Records They Hold”, the results (bar chart in the image below) are heartening for those of us who are interested in progressing Arboriculture through the analysis of data.

Luke and Joe , with Hannah Walker of Forest Research then led workshops with delegates on the opportunities for advancing Arboriculture of pooling data held across the industry.

The days were packed with presentations from people working with trees all around the world

🌳 Day 1 An inspiring start to the conference with thought-provoking sessions led by experts in arboriculture, tree management, and environmental risk.

Session 1 (Chair: Neil Davies)

• Steven Pearce explored Tasmania’s giant tree culture
  • This was a viscerally moving presentation of Steve and his wife’s successful work to protect giant ancient trees, some of which are over 85m tall and 4m diameter from being felled for timber.

Many people said that this was the stand-out presentation for them and it certainly got the conference off to a vibrant start, setting the context of the immense cultural, historic and ecological value of trees AND their vulnerability to human industrial practices.

• Juan Estrada Garcia shared insights on traditional tree management in Toledo’s dehesas, beautifully brought to life by his brilliant pen illustrations.

• James Chambers of TMA, presented a photographic journey through the life of the Arthur Clough Oak

Session 2 (Chair: Tony Kirkham)

• Valentino Cristini of Mendel University in Brno, discussed wood decay from a material science perspective.
  • Putting colonised wood under the microscope and under pressure to test strength. The magnified images of decayed wood were fascinating and his findings that many species of fungi are typically present in decay sites was illuminating.
• Beau Brodbeck, of Auburn Universitydelivered a sobering examination of climate-smart tree risk assessment and its impact on homeowners insurance on the east coast of the US.
  • He reported that in 2024, 81% of homeowners in his study area were being challenged by insurers to pre-emptively remove trees on the basis that they could damage their properties in extreme weather, including hurricanes.
    • This led us to ask whether there is data that shows that the presence of large trees reduces the impacts of more frequent smaller scale storms?
  • David Evans (AcerVentura) Presented on his VALID system for proactively and proportionately managing tree risk.

Session 3 (Chair: Emma Gilmartin)

• Andrew Hirons on water use in young trees

Day 2 Another day of insightful talks and research-driven discussions on the future of trees, ecosystems, and urban forestry.

Session 4 (Chair: Claire Harbinson)

• Malin Rivers gave voice to the world’s tree species through the Global Tree Assessment
• Ed Pyne unraveled the complex taxonomy of Armillaria – tree killer or ecosystem engineer?
• Andrew Benson shared strategies for optimising tree responses to root pruning

Session 5 (Chair: Henry Kuppen)

• Bianca Ambrose-Oji explored trees outside woodlands in both rural and urban contexts
• Matt Combes presented risk-based surveillance strategies in tree health
• Alasdair Nicoll tackled the challenges of oak processionary moth

Session 6 (Chair: Sarah Kiss)

• Wendy Batenburg discussed the allergenic potential of tree pollen
• Michael Johnson highlighted the cooling and wellbeing benefits of trees in schools
• Dorella Pinter-Burus showcased urban forestry in the extremes of Riyadh

The conference explored the diverse roles trees play in our lives – from biodiversity to public health.