A small pocket of young trees - a big impact on local wildlife

On a still, warm summer's morning, with clear skies overhead, I met Liam in the corner of a park in south Oxford.

Liam is a researcher from the community ecology group at Oxford University and an expert in entomology - the study of insects. He joined ITF for the day to carry out wildlife surveys at two tree planting sites and help us gain a deeper understanding into the impact these young trees are having on biodiversity.

The trees were planted in 2019 by local volunteers, passionate about improving the landscape around them, as part of ITF’s UK Community Tree Planting programme. At Rose Hill Recreation Ground, 130 adults and children joined together to plant 682 mixed species of broadleaf trees, at the edge of the park that was once regularly mowed grass - as the rest of the field continues to be maintained today. The second site was Stonehill Community Garden in Abingdon where a similar variety of trees, as well as fruit trees, were also planted alongside the neighbouring grassland. The aims of both projects were to improve local biodiversity, increase urban tree cover and encourage active participation in environmental restoration within the community.

The local community gather to plant trees at Rose Hill Recreation Ground in 2019

Pan traps, nets and canvas trays

Excited by the ecological insights ahead, I observed and listened as Liam unpacked the surveying apparatus. Pan traps - coloured bowls with water to catch insects for subsequent identification - were laid in the long grass among the trees and in the adjacent field for comparison. Liam then moved around the site with a sweep net and examined its contents, listing the many species that had been picked up. It quickly became apparent that these trees, healthy and now just shy of two metres tall, were playing hosts to an abundance of wildlife.

The third and final step was to shake the foliage of the trees and gather the falling bugs onto a canvas tray. As with the sweep net, the tray displayed a lively and colourful variety of beetles, butterflies, bees and wasps, flies, spiders and moths. At both sites, not only had the presence of the trees allowed the surrounding grass to mature and grow tall, thus creating ideal habitat for pollinators, but the trees themselves were also refuges to an extraordinary diversity of fauna.

An alarming decline of inspects

Pollinators provide key ecosystem functions and play a critical role in food production. While the exceptionally dry weather this summer has seen an increase in some insect species, the overall trend is one of alarming decline across the UK. In England, pollinating insects have declined in distribution by an average of 22% since 1970, with some insect groups falling by as much as 40% including ladybirds, hoverflies, dragonflies and wasps:

The trees at Rose Hill are flourishing in 2025

What struck me as Liam and I examined these sites was how a simple change to a small corner of public space was able to generate so much life.

The clear impact of tree planting

When Liam’s final report came through, we were delighted with the results. The areas planted with trees produced a much greater number of species than the adjacent field comparisons, with 77 different species of invertebrate recorded at Rose Hill, and 53 species at Stonehill. The impact of these trees is clear. They are establishing the foundations of a thriving habitat for thousands of pollinators and will continue to serve as a vital platform for biodiversity within an urban setting.

Supporting ITF helps us to create more tree planting sites such as these and study their impact on the local environment. Every project we work with is community-led, engages residents and promotes long-term care for trees to ensure their survival. Your support will help to deliver small but substantial changes to public spaces where wildlife urgently needs a home.

We will return to these sites in two years’ time to see how the impact of these trees will continue grow. And we hope that surveys like these are the first of many more to come across our community of tree planting projects.

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