Redwoods take root in UK plan to meet climate crisis targets

Labour's Trees Action Plan featuring resilient woodlands is a boon to timber industry and will 'restore' nature

- James Tapper

What makes a British forest? Is it Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s oak, bright in spring, and summer-rich? Or is it Walt Whitman's California redwood, with stalwart trunk and foot-thick bark?

Ministers are leaning towards Whitman. Redwoods are at the forefront of government plans to plant millions of trees that are more resilient to the climate crisis and that absorb large amounts of carbon.

Coast redwoods are expected to feature in a new Trees Action Plan outlining how the government will meet its target to invest £1bn in tree planting by 2029. Trials by Forest Research, an arm of the Forestry Commission, show that the giant conifers, along with 16 other nonnative species, have the potential to grow well in the UK and be a commercial success for the timber industry.

Britain already has about 500,000 coast redwoods and their giant sequoia cousins, many of them planted individually by Victorians, who were fascinated by these majestic brothers, as Whitman described them. Most are scattered around the country, lining suburban streets, in parks or on the grounds of stately homes.

The oldest were planted about 150 years ago and are still some way from maturity — they can live 3,000 years. Their 10 metre-wide trunks and Methuselahian lifespans make them ideal for carbon sequestration, with the capacity to store about 2,200 tonnes of carbon per hectare.