Oak (Quercus spp.) are an iconic tree species and valued worldwide for the benefits they provide but their survival in many habitats is threatened. One threat is Acute Oak Decline (AOD) whose story involves a complex, and not yet completely understood, set of interactions between a native beetle, Agrilus biguttatus and a suite of bacteria. Uncertainty over causes of AOD can impede decision-making over how to respond. We explored how stakeholders, made up of land managers and oak researchers in Great Britain currently assess the risks and impacts of AOD and their perspectives on potential management solutions. Findings reveal that land managers want to protect oak but face difficulties in understanding what to do based on current scientific understanding of AOD. Issues were raised around the specificity, feasibility and ethical dimensions of different management options and highlighted inconsistencies between the typical emergency mode or ’pulse’ response to tree pests and diseases versus longer-term adaptation that is likely more suitable, if less immediate. Participants agreed that a healthy ecosystem is key to the resilience of oak and that worsening environmental conditions are putting oak under increasing pressure and predisposing them to attack. Identifying knowledge gaps and concerns will support collaborative approaches to developing options for AOD based on integrating science and practical insights as they emerge.

Scale is a crucial factor influencing how woodland managers experience and engage with their forests, especially amongst those managing smaller, private woodlands. Managers of these small woods often display both a remarkably detailed and granular knowledge of their property, but also a deeply emotional connection to woodlands which can become laced with deep personal meaning. These intertwined threads of exceptionally detailed knowledge, and personal and historical meaning can be significantly affective in shaping woodland management decision-making, and indeed, we argue here that this combination not only influences decision making but often actually enhances it for the overall betterment of the woodland. However, smaller (particularly amateur-owned) woodlands can find themselves ill-fitting into an administrative system which often remains tailored towards larger, professionally managed forests. This is especially reported with regard to accessing grant monies, but the perception that small woods are ‘under-managed’ still looms large in much of the discourse. Drawing on qualitative interviews with woodland managers in the UK, many of whom managed 10 ha or less, we argue that in fact this cohort can be highly effective in their management, and have enormous under-utilised potential for combating the spread of arboreal pests and diseases, especially in the context of complex decline conditions such as acute oak decline. Indeed, we argue that centring the knowledge, perspectives, and objectives of those managing smaller scale woodlands must increasingly become a critical facet of scholarship and governance connected to the management of UK woodland landscapes.

The managers of private forests have critical roles in responding to forest health challenges. Basic knowledge of how they interpret and understand the health of their trees is, however, very sparse. Via an online survey of private forest managers in Britain, we reveal the basic characteristics of this group's understandings of tree and forest health both in general and, more specifically, in relation to the health (and ill health) of oak species. The survey generated 441 valid responses – from forest owners, forestry agents and other professionals. The majority of our respondents believe the forest(s) they manage to be healthy or very healthy, although vulnerable to future threats. We identify key themes within managers' understandings of the factors that promote tree health, and describe the visual signs of good- and ill-health used by them as indicators. Oak trees and oak woodlands were similarly judged to be healthy currently, but again this positivity was set against a sense of vulnerability and potential future decline. The biggest threat to oaks was considered to be browsing and bark stripping by mammals – a very long standing concern – rather than more recently emergent threats. Through this research we provide a clear sense of how forest managers think about, and make judgements on, the health of their trees and forests. This understanding needs to inform the increasing efforts by the forestry sector in engaging private forest managers in forest protection.

The values of forests have been extensively researched by focusing on general public perspectives with different frameworks used to categorise them. Studies have also explored forest manager values; however, there is limited evidence on the values they associate with specific tree species. Understanding more about managers’ values regarding a particular species is important when considering how they make decisions and might respond to tree pests and disease threats. In this study, we explored forest managers’ values regarding oak trees and the effects of a particular pest and disease risk known as Acute Oak Decline on these. This paper outlines the results from interviews with forest managers in England and a survey of private forest managers in Britain to capture the ways in which they value the oak trees they own, manage, or influence. Forest manager types included private owners of single or multiple properties, forestry professionals, businesses, and tenants. The results show that oaks were highly valued by forest managers as an iconic cultural species in the landscape and for their timber. Veteran and ancient oak trees were considered very important, and managers were more likely to spend time and resources attempting to conserve these oaks due to their perceived cultural value. Those who had trees that were suffering from Acute Oak Decline were also more likely to spend resources on them to save the trees or try to reduce the impact of the disease. Gaining a better understanding of forest managers’ attitudes towards protecting species they value is important as it has implications for their decision-making and management behaviours. It can also help to provide relevant bodies with information on how best to develop and communicate guidance and advice on monitoring and reporting disease symptoms, as well as managing oak tree health.

PurposeThis paper's purpose is to explore the current interest and knowledge that UK consumers hold around agroforestry. Despite the many reported benefits of agroforestry systems, uptake in the UK, as well as other temperate nations, has been low. As the consumer has a role to play in the transition of agriculture to methods that are more environmentally friendly it is vital to have an understanding of their perceptions. Yet to date no work has looked at agroforestry from the perspective of the UK consumer.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted using a convenience sample accessed by floating a link through social media and messaging apps. The survey was also shared to the members of a private Facebook group associated with an organic vegetable box service. A mix of multiple choice and open text boxes were used. The survey received 139 responses.FindingsNon-parametric tests indicate that this sample of UK consumers would be mostly likely to buy, and willing to pay more for, agroforestry produce; and the sample showed a split group regarding familiarity. Inductive thematic analysis of the qualitative data highlighted some important barriers to the purchase as well as capturing a snapshot of this sample's perceptions.Originality/valueThis paper presents, to the authors knowledge, the first set of data regarding a sample of UK consumers' perspective of agroforestry produce. The findings could bolster producers' confidence in adopting agroforestry practices, but also highlight the need for policymakers to bolster consumer support through parallel means.

The health and wellbeing benefits of engagement with the natural environment are well documented. Nature-based interventions (NBIs) can widen access, but little is known about how they affect independent use and perception of greenspace. This mixed methods study examines the longer-term influence of one NBI on woodland visits. 120 adults took part in a longitudinal questionnaire survey, and 20 participated in focus groups. An increase in independent woodland visits was found to continue to rise beyond the programme endpoint suggesting that NBIs can act as a turning point for engagement with nature, breaking down psychological, emotional and socio-cultural barriers.

The health and wellbeing benefits of engagement with the natural environment are well documented, but a lack of prospective research means that the sustainability of effects is unknown. Nature-based interventions (NBIs) seek to extend benefits to a wide, socially inclusive range of people. The primary aim of this study was to develop an improved understanding of one such initiative on personal wellbeing over time.The study involved adults recruited from Actif Woods Wales, a pan-Wales woodland activity programme. A questionnaire using validated measures assessed participants at baseline (n = 120), end of course (n = 74) and three months later (n = 57), in terms of mental wellbeing, social trust, self-reported health, self-efficacy, selfesteem and physical activity. A parallel qualitative study sought in-depth appreciation of processes of change with five end of course and four follow up focus groups.Significant positive increases were demonstrated in all psychosocial measures by end of course. These gains held at the follow up stage providing critical evidence of maintained change. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed positive shifts in self-perspective that were reflected in wider lifestyle changes. Participant narratives showed how social processes and nature played an important role in supporting the wellbeing benefits experienced.This mixed methods study addressed identified gaps for research that furthers understanding of how NBIs can support health and wellbeing longer term. Findings point to a need for sustainable funding and support for NBI projects to embed the role that they can play in delivering therapeutic and preventative outcomes.

Increased time spent in nature can enhance physical health and mental wellbeing. The UK Government's '25 Year Environment Plan' recommends extending the health benefits of contact with nature to a wider group of people, including those with mental health challenges. This study investigated whether nature-based interventions (NBIs) for people with mild mental health challenges could generate a positive social return on investment (SROI). Between May 2017 and January 2019, 120 participants at six outdoor sites in Wales participated in a 6 to 12-week NBI, which consisted of a weekly 2- to 4-h session. Quantitative data were collected from baseline and follow-up questionnaires identifying participant demographics and measuring mental wellbeing, physical activity, self-efficacy, and social trust. Wellbeing valuation generated a range of social value ratios by applying the Housing Association Charitable Trust (HACT) Social Value Calculator (SVC 4.0) and HACT Mental Health Social Value Calculator (MHSVC 1.0). Seventy-four participants (62%) completed follow-up questionnaires at 6 months. SROI ratios were calculated using the SVC for physical activity, self-efficacy, and social trust. The MHSVC generated social value ratios for mental wellbeing. The base case results revealed a positive social value ratio for participants, ranging from British Pound Sterling (GBP) 2.57 to GBP 4.67 for every GBP 1 invested, indicating favourable outcomes in terms of value generated.

Editorial to Environmental Values Volume 31, Issue 2

Whilst Brexit presents many challenges, it also creates a juncture to address longstanding tensions in rural land-use policy. There is increasing pressure to expand forests in Britain, particularly for carbon sequestration, but also to acknowledge the wider uses and values of trees. An important tension here is not only the ultimate balance of land uses, but the rate of change that Brexit might herald. In this chapter, we explore the current pressures for rapid change through afforestation, balanced against lessons from the past. This involves a closer look at policy time-cycles and who, and what, they serve. We highlight a need for more durable and adaptable approaches to forest policy-making, but also to look beyond an anthropocentric focus to acknowledge the agency and rhythms of forests themselves. Our perspective is grounded in the concept of diachronic integrity. This argues that for conservation to succeed it must pay attention to place narratives – the socio-ecological interactions that, over time, generate places and their human and non-human components. We explore two post-Brexit forest policy scenarios and highlight critical choices that need to be made. We conclude that considerable adaptability is required to deliver policy that is sensitive to diverse narratives.

Life cycle assessment is an analysis technique used to assess the environmental burdens of products or production processes. Ecosystem services is a concept used to understand the ways functioning ecosystems support human wellbeing. Both are used to understand how anthropogenic pressures impact the environment. The integration of ecosystem services as indicators in life cycle assessment is increasingly being explored, however there are several limitations with current frameworks. A brief review of existing approaches found they incorporate ecosystem services as midpoint indicators within traditional life cycle assessment structures and aggregate these impacts under the conventional ‘areas of protection’ (i.e., groupings of impacts). These approaches typically only focus on how product systems negatively affect ecosystem service supply (predominantly through land use) and overlook how product systems use up ecosystem services to mitigate their emissions or how interventions in product systems could improve ecosystem service supply. It is argued by several authors that ecosystem services are better placed as endpoint indicators representing damage to the instrumental value of ecosystems in a manner distinct to existing life cycle assessment impact categories, so that any changes in their delivery should be assessed within a new area of protection. In this paper, the potential for an ecosystem services area of protection within life cycle assessment is explored and a novel framework for modelling endpoint characterisation factors related to ecosystem service impacts that addresses the limitations of existing approaches is presented. The proposed novel framework respects existing life cycle assessment protocols by quantifying the endpoint damage to ecosystem services from product systems alongside existing methodologies for modelling endpoint impacts to ecosystem quality (biodiversity), human health and natural resources. This approach, based on small number of pertinent end-point indicators, has potential to broaden out LCA assessments of product systems and quantify the multiple ways they impact ecosystem services.

In recent years tree planting as a response to climate change has acquired a very high profile amongst policy-makers, scientists, the media, and the public. This ‘afforestation’, however, requires space: that is, land. Agriculture currently occupies very large areas of land globally meaning that it is commonly targeted as needing to make way for tree planting, and making farmers important gatekeepers to this climate change mitigation strategy. Given the importance of farming sector media outlets in reflecting, shaping and leading values and attitudes amongst the agricultural community, this paper investigates how tree planting is presented within the UK's two leading sectoral publications, Farmers Guardian and Farmers Weekly. We sample coverage at four points over a two-year period (2019–2021) which began with high-profile national media and scientific engagement with the topic. Our analysis reveals very low levels of coverage within these key publications with, on average, just 1 in 200 articles within our sample focussing on tree planting. Within this limited coverage we identify four themes which range from hostility towards the notion of trees on farms replacing agricultural practices, through to occasional recognition of the positive roles that trees on farms can play in climate change mitigation. Arguably, the lack of legitimisation within the coverage constitutes a significant barrier to woodland expansion on agricultural land. We conclude that farming media outlets could play a much stronger role in supporting the agricultural community to understand how it could contribute to climate change mitigation through bringing trees ‘in’ to farming systems, and to the normalisation of this within modern farming culture.

As incoming Editor and Deputy Editor we describe our impression of the current situation that those committed to understanding and upholding environmental values find themselves in. We consider some of the factors that make enviornmental concern difficult to maintain, including conditions that affect us as academics, publishers, global citizens and activists. We describe some of the emerging trends that have appeared in Environmental Values in recent years, in philosophy, ecological economics, critical social science and widening interdisciplinarity in the environmental humanities. We highlight the journal's commitment to engaged, plural and open investigation of environmental values and consider what we might expect and hope for in the coming years.

The anthropogenic environmental change characteristic of the Anthropocene generates numerous threats and opportunities for the non-human beings who are intrinsic to forest and tree health. There are profound consequences for both humans and non-humans as a result of natural ecosystem disturbances, such as forest fires or invasive insects, and their accompanying environmental management responses. However, the consequences for non-humans as a result of either disturbance or management receive virtually no attention within environmental policy and practice. In this paper we argue for the growth and transformation – the ‘eclosion’ – of the ‘stakeholder’ concept so as to provide a pragmatic basis for greater attentiveness to, and comprehension of, non-human interest. We explore the implications and feasibility of this, describing particular approaches to stakeholder analysis and representation that emanate from research methods including multispecies ethnography and studies in ‘new animism’, that can effectively enable non-human ‘voices’ to be heard and taken more seriously. We conclude there are solid methodological and conceptual foundations on which to build an effective understanding of non-human stake-holdership, particularly in the area of forest and tree health.

Many assessments of ecosystem services (ESs; nature’s contribution to people [...]

As the UK leaves the European Union, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which for decades has dictated how and when farming support is delivered, will be replaced with a new UK agricultural policy which will see UK farmers, especially upland livestock farmers, facing a more challenging economic environment and a significant change to the way in which farming support is delivered. This study used a series of interviews with UK farmers across differing locations and categories to ascertain how levels of social capital may hinder or enhance a farmer's willingness to embrace future agricultural policy. We found that more conventional farmers who have never participated in agri-environment schemes and those currently in government-run schemes display high levels of bonding capital and low levels of bridging and linking capital which may hinder their ability to adapt to change. In contrast, farmers who embrace a pubic goods approach to land management displayed high bridging and linking capital and are more likely to work with government officials to adapt to policy change. Communities are more likely to become sustainable if they have access to government support and advice, and if relationships with other community members and stakeholders with an interest in rural communities, the natural environment and land management are encouraged and maintained.