Oxfordshire treescape project
The Oxfordshire Treescape Project was initiated by the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Sir Tim Stevenson, with the support of a wide range of public and private organisations. A comprehensive range of stakeholders – from farmers and landowners to conservationists, foresters and academics – have been consulted and had the opportunity to contribute to project. Grow Green Carbon, in partnership with Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, has taken on curation and development of the maps and their use going foward.
The aim of the Oxfordshire Treescape Project is to provide a simple picture of the full range of treescape opportunities available on every piece of land across Oxfordshire. Treescapes are trees in all their different forms and densities, each suited to a different land use.
The Oxfordshire Treescapes Project has created the Oxfordshire Treescape Opportunity Map, a powerful tool that shows the right places to establish treescapes for the right reasons. By the right reason, we mean areas where farmers and landowners can maximise opportunities to harness the power of treescapes to address biodiversity loss, capture carbon, reduce flooding and contribute to human wellbeing. New funding schemes are being rolled out by central government to help farmers and landowners adapt their land management to deliver natural benefits.
The project maps woodlands, hedgerows, agroforestry, community orchards, street trees and natural grassland which can have some woody elements. The maps show which of these treescapes can be placed where and which of seven benefits they would then bring. The placements are not exact. Rather the maps are designed to present the broad range of opportunities available to a landowner or manager, from which a more detailed targeted land management plan can be created. It aims to support farmers, landowners, and managers and community groups by mapping opportunities for treescapes on their land and the benefits these would bring.
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