Somerset, a county of huge landscape variety deserves a new innovative tree strategy. From the Levels to Exmoor, small villages and larger urban centres. Agriculture, forestry and urban development all wrapped into one geographic area.
How do treescapes fit into this complex web of land-use? How will they fit in in future climates and future societies?
The local authorities, the County Council and the local NGOs have started to engage in future treescapes for the county and have commissioned us to help them write a tree strategy that compliments and boosts the ambitions they have. It’s a bold piece of work and we’ve thrown both the baby and bathwater out to reimagine how this process can happen. We’re pretty excited about this one!
We’ll start by asking everyone what they think. Beyond the usual tree focussed kind of people …how do trees impact them? …how should trees impact them? …what if there were more trees in urban centres? …what if there were more agroforestry and hedgerow systems across Somerset? And what about road verges and railways, what role do they have to play in Somerset’s future treescape? What about the deep rich history of forest management for timber in Somerset? How does that fit in? How does it all fit in?
From these questions and more, we will wring out some thoughts that will help the County produce a strategy fit for the region. And whilst there will be dry written strategy and “action plan”, there will also be some richly conceived video and other media to communicate the important the future of Somerset’s trees, its environment, society and economy.