Future Trees Trust is a registered charity dedicated to the improvement of broadleaved trees by conventional selective breeding. The aim of our work is to breed broadleaved trees to improve their resilience to disease, climate change adaptability, CO2 sequestration, growth rate and form. We are the only organisation in the UK working on improving our broadleaved woodlands.
Our work is needed because one of the most significant components of our natural environment, our broadleaved woodlands, are of insufficient genetic quality, growth rate, form, climatic adaptability and disease resistance to provide an economically viable timber resource, meaning that the UK imports 95% of the hardwood timber it uses. This is environmental, ecological and economic madness and our work aims to fundamentally change the economics of British broadleaved forestry, to encourage far more tree-planting, with all the associated benefits to our environment, ecology, economy and countryside.
By ensuring future tree populations are healthier, more disease resilient, adapted to climate change and more productive, we hope more people will decide to plant more and better broadleaved trees when considering alternative uses for their land. More trees planted mean many more benefits to our environment, our economy, countless species of woodland flora and fauna, the many thousands of people who work in the forestry and associated sectors, millions of people that enjoy visiting them and not least to the very nature of our countryside.
