National Tree Officers Conference 2025

Association of Tree Officers and Institute of Chartered Foresters, with the London Tree Officers Association and Municipal Tree Officers Association, delivered a deeply informative and inspiring conference.

Mary Creagh MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Defra took the opportunity to announce a Second National Forest in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor.

She praised Tree Officers for the work they do as custodians of the tree scape, their role tree managing the risks from trees and as custodians of the “nature and environment start in our doorstep”.

Opening with insights into the role of human cultivation of trees and plants in the current plant composition of parts of the Amazon rain forest, Andrew Walton, Tree Strategy Manager, Staffordshire County Council, shared his vison of greater edible treescapes for healthier communities with stronger bonds.

He highlighted the Local Food Growth Plan from Sustain, Landworkers’ Alliance, Food Farming & Countryside Commission, Pasture for Life and Sustainable Food Trust, which urges government and business to revitalise local food systems

Reflecting on attending Walsall Arboretum’s Apple Day, Andrew summed up the power of edible treescapes: “I came away feeling more connected to my community.”

Lisa Ward, Head of Pathology at Forest Research, presented the results of her study Assessing Pest and Pathogen Risks to the Urban Forest in Great Britain.

The increased risks to our trees associated with climate change and globalisation are evident and the study identified 154 pests and 2822 individual host-pest associations over 204 tree species.

Luke Fay asked why London plane do not feature in the top 20 trees at risk and suggested that they might, if the modelling took into account impacts to canopy cover, rather than quantum of trees. Lisa responded that this would be a useful consideration.

Kenny McGregor, Arboricultural Officer at Cambridge City Council, enthralled delegates with his infectious enthusiasm and deep knowledge of the “punk rock veteran willows at Coe Fen & Sheep’s Green and the brilliant public engagement that he and Natalie Lambert are achieving through the Diversitree Project.

Kevin Martin MICFor – Head of Tree Collections at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, presented Tree Selection in a Changing Climate, crucial insights for all of those present who specify tree planning.

Watch this space for Kevin’s report to the GLA, which will be published later this year.

Chris standing in for Mike Ripley, Assistant Arboricultural Officer, presented on The Challenges of Species Selection in a Highways Environment, which highlighted Hampshire County Council’s strategy for Prioritising Planting in Locations with High Pollution / Density of People (index).

Luke Rowland, Tree Aftercare and Planting Service Senior and Tom Gallagher, Tree Aftercare and Planting Service Supervisor presented a great case study of Oxfordshire County Council’s In-house Tree Aftercare and Planting Service, which has been tremendously successful in nurturing both ne trees and budding arboriculturists.

Fiona Chirnside MICFor, Environment Planner and Eleanor Munro – Environment Planner for Aberdeenshire Council, delivered an insightful case study into Applying the 3-30-300 rule in Inverurie.

Ever-innovative, Philip Simpkin MICFor, Ecology & BMERC Team Leader, at Buckinghamshire County Council presented with John Francis from the Alan Turing Institute on their project to map Buckinghamshire’s Tree Canopy using AI.

Jon Kiely, Principal Consultant, JKTC Environment & Tree Consultancy and Chair of the BS 3998 Review Panel, called for engagement across the sector in consultative process to develop the revised British Standard #BS3998 Tree Work Recommendations – review and update.

Jon Ryan, Head of Natural Environment at Islington Council and James Chambers, Principal Arboricultural Consultant at TMA Environmental Consultants gave delegates an insight into the media hurricane that can rip through a council when their trees hit the press as happened with the ‘Banksy Tree’.

A key message from this was, how isolated a council officer can feel when social media bile is flying and as a representative of the organisation, they are unable to respond and set the record straight…and the positive impact of having colleagues from the arboricultural community respond on their behalf.

Dan Kemsley MICFor, Arboriculture Manager at Kent County Council drew the proceedings to a close and delegates left inspired with new knowledge and a strong sense of community.