Findings and Recommendations

The survey indicated that London’s urban forest comprises 8,421,000 trees.

The ecosystem services provided by these urban trees that were considered within the project were carbon capture, rainwater interception, the removal of air pollution, building energy savings and building energy carbon avoided, and these were valued at £132.7 million per year.

This study demonstrates the value that urban trees provide to all who live in, work in and visit London. This project highlighted that London’s urban forest comprises almost 8.5 million trees – that’s one per inhabitant of London.

The project highlighted that approximately 60% of trees in London are privately owned, yet the publically owned trees contribute to around 60% of the ecosystem services. This is due to the greater prevalence of mature and large canopy trees found in public ownership.

In summary, the project report found that London’s trees are a valuable functional component of the landscape, they are under threat from the impacts of a changing climate and more needs to be done to safeguard London’s urban forest for the future – protecting the existing stock and planting more for future generations.

For further details and results see the Full Report and Summary Report in the Documents section (below).