All of the work we do helps to tackle climate change in some way.  Improving walking and cycling routes, helping children and young people understand the environment, promoting the use of local wood products, planting trees or caring for woodlands and greenspace for all to use and enjoy all contribute to combating climate change.

We work to raise public awareness of climate change and help individuals, businesses and organisations take positive steps to change their lifestyles and improve their local environment.

Our Climate Active! projects are aimed locally at reducing carbon dioxide emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Reducing carbon emissions 

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions, or climate change 'mitigation', is important as it means reducing the levels of greenhouse gasses (particularly carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere to help slow climate change.

The way we work to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is by supporting public access, greenspace and community woodland projects to improve the local environment and help people live lower carbon, healthier lifestyles.  

We work to:

• promote and improve publicly accessible woodland and green space close to where people live so that they can visit these sites on foot or by cycling a short distance from their home.

• improve public footpaths and cycle routes to provide sustainable ways for people to more easily access the countryside, visit local woodland / green space or to get to and from work without having to use a car.

• enable local communities, schools and individuals to use, value and enjoy the local environment and live more sustainable lifestyles.

This work is very much central to everything that  we do.  The Climate Active! projects that you can support to help us in our work are the Tree Dedication Scheme and Woodlands for All.

Adapting to the impacts of climate change

Our Free Trees Scheme and Tree Dedication Scheme deliver our work on climate change adaptation.  Climate change adaptation involves preparing for, and adapting to, the predicted impacts of climate change.

Some of the predicted changes to our climate in the South West are hotter, drier, longer summers and warmer, wetter winters. Additionally, we are likely to have to prepare for the increased frequency, unpredictability and severity of extreme weather events such as winter storms, heavy rainfall, flooding and soil erosion.

We help with climate change adaptation by planting trees and caring for woodland to create and maintain an environment more resilient to changes to our climate.

There are, of course, many other benefits from planting trees and woodland. They provide timber and wood products and a source of renewable energy. Additionally, they improve our environment, make our towns and cities more pleasant places to be, provide a focus for education, improve our quality of life, health and emotional well being and provide places to walk, cycle and relax.

In relation specifically to helping adapt to climate change, however, trees and woodland play an important role by:

• Reducing the impact of heavy rain and the severity and extent of flooding. Planting woodland helps to regulate the flow of water into rivers and streams and slow the rate at which floodwater passes downstream.

• Providing shelter from high winds. Trees slow down wind speeds. The shelter from trees and woods in towns also reduces the heating and air-conditioning costs of buildings – helping to reduce annual energy consumption.

• Reducing water loss. With hotter, dryer summers predicted water conservation is an important issue. Planting trees helps to safeguard water supplies in the long term by ensuring a steady flow into underground water sources rather than being lost into drains by running off hard surfaces such as roads and car parks.

• Strengthening and protecting biodiversity. Planting trees and expanding and linking our woodlands and green spaces is essential if we are to give plants and animals the chance to move and migrate in response to climate change.

• Providing shade. The shade of trees provides a barrier to the sun as well as reducing heat-induced stress. Provision of summer shade is likely to become increasingly important to adapt to the higher temperatures resulting from climate change. This is particularly important in urban areas where temperatures are likely to be considerably higher.

• Cooling the air. As trees lose moisture from their leaves, the surrounding air is cooled. This, coupled with the shade they cast, and the heat reflected upwards from their leaves, significantly reduces summer air temperature in towns.

Additionally, of course, trees take up and store carbon dioxide – helping with climate change mitigation. Simply planting more trees to offset our carbon emissions, however, is not the answer to climate change. Nevertheless, this is an added benefit every time a tree is planted.