Our Estates Technical Manager, Rob Schofield will be co-presenting the event organised by tree valuation experts Treeconomics to promote the value of trees to other housing providers.
We became the first housing association to launch a fact-finding mission into the benefits of our 26,000 trees.
So we joined forces with specialist company Treeconomics to tap into a software system called i-Tree, developed by the United States Forest Service and supported by the Forestry Commission, to calculate the benefits their trees provide.
With 153 different species of trees across our geography, figures revealed that the replacement value of our tree stock is £15.1million and the value of the amenity they provide is £148million.
Research also found that the trees removed 3.9 tonnes of airborne pollution and 109 tonnes of carbon from the air each year – a combined benefit valued at £72,000.
Elsewhere it was discovered that our trees absorb around a third of the carbon emitted from our 308 repairs’ vans.
The project valued the 3,618 tonnes of carbon stored by our trees at £862,466.
Our trees prevent 10,700 cubic metres of storm water going down the drain – an annual benefit of more than £16,000.
The report also highlighted the threats to the trees from problems such as ash dieback disease and invasive pests.
To find out more about our commitment to sustainability, take a look at LiveWest: Creating Greener Futures Together. You can also follow our progress on social media using the #LiveWestCGFT hashtag.
Rob Schofield said: “We carried out the first tree valuation project by a housing provider in the UK, and it’s great to be sharing the results with other organisations, showing how important trees are to LiveWest and our residents.
“We’ll be talking about how we carried out the project and how we’ve been using the results.
“Having all this positive information about the benefits of our tree stock will help us to manage the urban forest going forward to ensure that it continues to provide maximum benefits to communities.
“Climate change and invasive pests and diseases pose a real challenge so we need to plan for the future and make sure that the new trees we plant will be robust enough to survive these threats.
“Trees can sometimes be viewed as a nuisance, but this report clearly shows how valuable they are – an asset rather than a liability.
“Trees and green space also provide many other benefits – cooling estates in summer, encouraging wildlife into urban areas, and providing space for recreation and education opportunities.
“Research has also shown that social housing residents with higher tree cover near their homes reported higher mental wellbeing than residents with negligible green space nearby.”
We plan to build 15,000 new homes over the next 10 years, which will result in £2billion invested across the region.
The protection of green spaces across our geography is part of our drive to build thriving communities.
Rob added: “We value our green spaces and want to ensure that our customers get the best out of them.”