Discover London’s surprising and diverse canopy! Working with Paul Wood, author of London is a Forest (Quadrille, 2019) and London Street Trees (Safe Haven, 2017), Andrew Stuck from the Museum of Walking created a series of walkshops inviting participants to Explore the Urban Forest.
According to a UN definition, 20% tree canopy gets you to forest status, and so London with 8.5 million trees is, officially, a forest. It’s an urban forest, and within it there are many different environments hosting thousands of species including hundreds of different tree species from all over the world.
On our hugely popular explorations in the urban forest with Paul, we focused on the trees, from semi-natural woodlands to those found on our streets and in our public spaces. We heard stories about the trees, where they come from, who looks after them, how climate change influences them, along with the cultural and social history of urban afforestation. Together, with Mel Sutton and Peter Coles, Andrew and Paul founded the Urban Tree Festival in 2018, that runs every year in May.
Explorations included:
- Urban Forest: Fitzrovia-Bloomsbury (2017)
- Urban Forest: Haggerston – Hackney (2017)
- Urban Forest: Bermondsey to Borough (2017)
- Urban Forest: Embankment (2017)
- Urban Forest: Peckham (2018)
- Urban Forest: Haggerston-Hackney (2018)
- Urban Forest: Pimlico (2018)
- Urban Forest: Chiswick (2018)
- Urban Forest: Herne Hill (2018)
- Urban Forest: Crouch End (2018)
- Urban Forest: Hampstead (2018)
- Urban Forest: Peckham SE15 (2018)
- Urban Forest: Stoke Newington (2018)
- Urban Forest: Haverstock Hill (2018)
- Urban Forest: Hackney Central Circular (2018)
- RHS London Urban Garden Show – Explore the Urban Trees of SW1 (2018)
- Urban Forest: Brockley (2018)
- Urban Forest: Muswell Hill (2018)
- Urban Forest: Herne Hill – cherry blossom (2019)
- John Ruskin: the power of seeing – street trees (2019)
- Urban Forest: Angel to Old Street (2019)
- Urban Forest: Borough to Bermondsey (2019)
- Urban Forest: Walthamstow – awesome trees in E17 (2019)
- Urban Forest: Great Western Trees (2019)
- Online due to COVID:
- Explore the Urban Forest on line: Haggerston Hop (2020)
- Explore the Urban Forest with Paul Wood: Great Streetview Trees of London (2020)
- Explore the Urban Forest with Paul Wood: Great Streetview Trees of London Part II (2020)
- Explore the Urban Forest – London Tree Walks – Acton to Ealing (2020)
- Explore the Urban Forest – A Brief History of Trees in London (2020)
- Explore the Urban Forest – London Tree Walks – Holborn to Westminster (2020)
- Explore the Urban Forest – Arboreal Arrivistes – The story of tree migrants (2020)
- Explore the Urban Forest – Plane Tales – The Story of the London Plane (2021)
- Explore the Urban Forest with Paul Wood – London Tree Walks – St Paul’s and the City (2021)
- Explore the Urban Forest with Paul Wood: Trees flower too! The flowering of the urban forest (2021)
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