Tree Warden Scheme

The Tree Council

The Tree Council leads an action programme which empowers communities to manage and look after the trees in their neighbourhoods. The programme supports the formation of networks of volunteer Tree Wardens whose aim is to help protect and care for their communities' trees.

The Tree Council launched the Tree Warden Scheme in 1990 to harness the power of local volunteers for the good of their communities' trees. It has coordinated it nationally ever since, working with local authorities, voluntary organisations, parish councils and local partnerships to set up and develop Tree Warden networks in town, city and countryside across the UK.

In 2005, the Government began backing the scheme through its 'Cleaner, Safer, Greener' initiative to help extend Tree Wardening further into urban areas.

(from The Tree Council Tree Warden's Handbook)

Role of WDVTA

Large oak, the Coombes

A trilateral agreement between Wokingham Borough Council, WDVTA, and the Tree Council has established a Tree Warden scheme in Wokingham Borough. Neighbouring schemes already exist in Reading and Windsor and Maidenhead and now members of WDVTA can offer to become tree wardens in their parish under WBC's membership of the Tree Council. This will provide opportunities for tree-related projects as well as increased protection and awareness of local trees. The WDVTA Tree Warden Co-ordinator (see the Contact us page) works with the Tree Council and WBC to ensure that those who wish to participate in projects have all the information they need.

Wokingham Launch

The Wokingham scheme was launched at Dinton Pastures on 29 November 2011. This was an informal gathering where Jon Stokes from the Tree Council introduced the scheme to WDVTA members. The project, detailed below, that WDVTA has chosen will celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and focuses on protecting existing juvenile hedge trees as well as new planting to enable new trees in the landscape to grow to maturity.

Role of Tree Wardens

There is no training or specific responsibility other than an interest in, and concern for, trees. Members can call themselves Tree Wardens if they so wish. They are not expected to be experts and they do not have any delegated authority.

The kinds of projects that Tree Wardens have engaged in include some that WDVTA is already doing. For example:

Surveying trees and gathering information about them, including their history
Getting together with like-minded people for training and field trips
Leading guided tree walks and giving talks to local groups
Producing leaflets for tree walks or the history of specific trees
Providing early warning of threats, disease, decay or vandalism
Working with local groups and schools on tree-related projects

Other projects that a developed association could promote if members so wished might be:

Planting and caring for trees, and managing local woods
Setting up tree nurseries using seeds collected locally
Supporting Tree Council initiatives such as the Hedge Tree Campaign
Helping farmers to lay hedges or tag trees for protection
Developing initiatives such as tree adoption to encourage others to value trees.

Tree Wardens may wish to make themselves known to their local town or parish council to help and/or advise on any tree planting and subsequent maintenance.

What Tree Wardens should not do!

Tree Wardens should not advise on tree safety
Undertake practical work outside their ability or without appropriate permission
Enter private land without the owner's agreement
Attempt to handle tree disputes
Carry out chemical weed control or use a chain saw without having completed the certificated training and without insurance
Allow anyone to carry out work on trees to disturb wildlife during the breeding/nesting season.

Becoming a WDVTA Tree Warden

If you would like to join the scheme or find out more about it, contact the Tree Warden co-ordinator via the Contact Us page.

The Hedge Tree Project

Introduction

The initial project of the newly formed Tree Warden group is to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee by establishing at least 60 hedge trees widely throughout the district. A hedge tree is an individual tree growing above a hedge. This project will add new trees to the countryside, but may also be in urban areas as well. This is foreseen as an easy project, as in most cases the trees will already be growing, and the task is to seek the permission of the landowner to tag the tree to prevent it being cut down when the hedge is cut. New hedge trees could be planted if wished. Species may be either timber or fruit trees.

Hedge trees in Grazeley

For Tree Wardens, this project will mean looking at other features in the landscape, for example checking that there are no power wires above the hedge, and envisioning what the hedge tree's size could be like in the future. All hedge trees will be recorded on a form for a project database. Currently the veteran tree database has records of about 7 - 10% of hedge trees, so this project is seen as recruiting veteran trees for the future.