Our research explores the value of different tree and forest ecosystem services and uses innovative methods to identify and capture those values. For example:

1. Seven high-level cultural ecosystem benefits have been identified from 56 studies across different European countries: health, learning, social connections, connections to nature, sensory benefits, cultural and symbolic, and economic benefits.

2. Shared values bring a new perspective to forest management decision making. These are values that people hold as a group, community or as a society, and are different from individual values.

3. The first study on the flood-risk reduction benefits of the UK woodland estate estimated a value of approximately £6.5 billion per year (£2,600 per ha) based upon a replacement cost approach. A review of evidence on water quality improvement associated with planting trees found that creation of woodland buffers reduced nitrate concentrations by over 70% on average in oceanic climates such as the UK’s. The strength of the effect is strongly related to the width of the buffer.