About Tree Appeal

Tree Appeal plants trees to promote biodiversity, create habitats and improve the environment for people. The trees are paid for by our sponsors – businesses and individuals that want to make a positive contribution to the environment. Most of our trees go to schools in the UK and Ireland.

We know that responsible organisations are already doing what they can to help the environment – recycling, reducing waste, reducing energy use. Tree Appeal can help them to take a step further by making a positive contribution to natural woodland habitats – both locally and nationally.

Why tree planting?

A tree is the basic building block for much of our environment. Trees provide woodland habitats for a wide range of plants, bugs, birds and animals. We have an aging population of broad leaf trees in the UK. A large number of them are in their latter years and are vulnerable to storm damage and natural decay. Nineteen million trees were destroyed in the storms of 1987 and 1990. More than thirty million were killed by Dutch Elm Disease and we now face a number of disease threats such as Ash Dieback and Sudden Oak Death.

We need to act now to secure the future of our woodlands. Over the last 50 years nearly half of the UK’s ancient, semi-natural woodland has been cleared or converted to commercial plantations. Our destruction of UK woodland habitat during the last century has seen more than one hundred species of animals become extinct. Many more are on the endangered list. Nearly a fifth of Britain’s wild plants and flowers are under threat and the chances of seeing many of them in the wild are growing slimmer by the year. We can start to turn things round by planting trees.

What is Biodiversity?

Biological diversity – or biodiversity – is the term given to the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms. The biodiversity we see today is the fruit of billions of years of evolution, shaped by natural processes and, increasingly, by the influence of humans. It forms the web of life of which we are an integral part and upon which we so fully depend. This diversity is often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms. So far, about 1.75 million species have been identified, mostly small creatures such as insects. Scientists reckon that there are actually about 13 million species, though estimates range from 3 to 100 million.

Biodiversity also includes genetic differences within each species – for example, between varieties of crops and breeds of livestock. Chromosomes, genes, and DNA, the building blocks of life, determine the uniqueness of each individual and each species.

It is the combination of life forms and their interactions with each other and with the rest of the environment that has made Earth a uniquely habitable place for humans. Biodiversity provides a large number of goods and services that sustain our lives.