Planting Trees Versus Natural Regeneration for Landscape Recovery and Rewilding
By Stephen Haywood, 1 May 2026
Fellow's Profile
Stephen Haywood
Fellow's Profile
Stephen Haywood
Planting trees vs natural regeneration for landscape recovery and rewilding
Fellowship
- Themes
- Focus
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Learning alternative ways to create ecologically rich woodlands that complement tree planting
- Countries
- Fellowship year
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2023
- Locality
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South East
Contact
Biography
I'm a programme manager for a local Rivers Trust working with local authorities, water companies, government bodies, landowners and managers, and the local communities in finding solutions to environmental problems in rural areas of the River Thames basin.
Woodland creation is an area of my work and the focus of this Fellowship. These projects are driven by funding, and funding is driven by the requirement of densely planting large numbers of trees. These projects don't always create ecologically rich woodlands that can boast many additional benefits to nature and local communities, such as areas of open grassland and wetlands. However, with emerging environmental markets like biodiversity net gain, and a greater desire to develop projects that deliver a range of positive outcomes, I hope to learn of alternative methods to woodland creation that can complement tree planting while saving time and expense, whilst remaining financially viable for the landowner.
This will require a change of mindset for the project managers, funders and political persons who often pledge to plant large numbers of trees, to pledging area of woodland created that is rich in biodiversity. Something I seek to learn how to achieve.
Ideas
Acknowledgements
Reforestemos Foundation, Carpathia, Trees for Albania (formerly Trees for Lurë)
Disclaimer
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
Ideas
Planting Trees Versus Natural Regeneration for Landscape Recovery and Rewilding
By Stephen Haywood, 1 May 2026
Acknowledgements
Reforestemos Foundation, Carpathia, Trees for Albania (formerly Trees for Lurë)
Disclaimer
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
