What have trees ever done for us? Written by Antonia Illingworth, published on 22nd November 2025 for National Tree Week. National Tree Week seems like a good time to think about all the wonderful things trees do for us. Trees cool and clean our air, provide natural resources and homes for wildlife, improve soil quality and help prevent erosion, mitigate flooding and improve our health and overall happiness. With all this in mind, trees offer some of the most sustainable and long-term benefits of any land use and here we delve a little bit deeper into these benefits and why trees make life better… Trees on farmland: boosting crops, soils and ecosystems Trees acting as shelterbelts on farmland support a healthy farm ecosystem. Forming a barrier that reduces windspeeds across crops, shelterbelts create a “microclimate” (a localised set of environmental conditions) that increases a crop’s water efficiency. Inside the microclimate, daytime temperatures are decreased, and air humidity is increased – this means that plants lose water at a lower rate. The decreased windspeed also helps to hold precious soil in place, ensuring it isn’t blown away by high winds. Like hedgerows, shelterbelts of trees provide the perfect corridor for pollinators like bees. A further potential benefit of shelterbelts is to drastically reduce the risk of spraying drift (for example, of pesticides and herbicides) by up to 90%. Trees on farmland also have more general benefits, like binding soil and helping it to act as a sponge, soaking up water. Every year, 2.9 million tonnes of topsoil is eroded in England and Wales. Protecting our soil, which underlies any healthy farm ecosystem, for example through planting trees, must be a priority for a sustainable farming future. Protecting rivers, reducing flood risk As well as their positive impacts on the land, trees help us to manage our water: they mitigate the impacts of flooding and protect our watercourses. One problem in river conservation is silt and fine sediment flowing into our waterways. By reducing the speed at which rainfall hits the ground, trees reduce the impacts of heavy rain, which can wash away soil, leading to sedimentation in rivers. Tree root systems help to hold riverbanks together, further avoiding sediment deposition into our watercourses. Trees can also help to mitigate the impacts of chemical pollution, reducing pesticide run-off into rivers from fields by 60-100%. Alongside pollution reduction, trees have an important role in providing shade to aquatic ecosystems. By reducing instream temperatures of a river by 2-3 °C, trees help to create a more suitable habitat for fish gliding through riffles, pools and deep water. Trees can also help to mitigate the impacts of chemical pollution, reducing pesticide run-off into rivers from fields by 60-100%. How trees help cool our towns and cities Particularly in urban environments, trees help to provide cooling shade. As always, it’s a case of right tree, right place; some trees are better shade providers than others. Trees like oak, for example, with wider canopies and more complex leaf shapes, might be more effective at cooling than trees with simple leaves that cast a slender shadow. Shade is very important in urban spaces; the built-up structure of grey urbanised areas means that they store energy in the daytime which is later released as heat. This is called the “Urban Heat Island” or UHI effect. Green spaces like woodlands help to mitigate this effect, because they reflect more solar radiation, and have a lower capacity to store heat energy. In 2013, Forest Research found that 11,000 premature deaths a year in the UK were accounted for by heat-related stress. Our climate has continued to change since 2013, and we are likely to experience increasingly extreme weather conditions. More than 80% of the UK population lives in a town or city, so it’s critical to include green spaces in the built environment; we need them to protect our health at a national scale. An oak leaf in the autumn A 'Tiny Forest' planted in an urban area Dog walker enjoying green space near urban area Cleaning our air and storing carbon Trees help to clean the air, alongside sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. As well as carbon dioxide, processes like burning fossil fuels – for example in a car, release other polluting gases like nitrogen and sulphur dioxides into the atmosphere. Trees help to absorb these harmful gases, improving the quality of our air. Alongside this, trees also help to remove particles like dust from the atmosphere. Like other plants, trees also sequester carbon, taking in carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, and releasing the oxygen we use in respiration. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas – one of the gases collecting heat in our atmosphere and leading to climate change. Reducing fossil fuel emissions and opting for cleaner, more sustainable energy must be a priority, but planting and maintaining sustainable woodlands will also help to mitigate air pollution. Why trees make us healthier and happier Trees and greenspaces help to improve your physical and mental health; lack of access to green spaces could be costing the NHS £2.1 billion a year. It’s perhaps no surprise that exercise is good for physical health – reducing the risk, for example, of diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Green spaces like woodlands are a great place to enjoy exercise and explore the outdoors. Exercising in a woodland environment might help you to boost the health benefits of your activity; you could be bolstering your immune system by breathing in phytoncides (natural defences) released by trees and other plants. While helping you to be more physically fit, woodlands can also make you feel better mentally. From Korea and Japan, the practice of Shirin Yoku or “forest bathing” – taking time to expose yourself to the sights and sounds of a woodland – can help you to feel positive, and less stressed. Tree planting in the Forest Forest bathing at the Millennium Country Park Wren protecting his home in the Forest The calming atmosphere they offer is one reason why we love our local woodlands, but the relationship between health and trees is a global one. Nearly a third of new and emerging diseases in the world can be linked to land-use changes, like deforestation. Using the “One Health” principle (that environmental, human and non-human animal health should be considered as linked), might help us to understand how we should manage our forests globally. Poorly managed removal of trees at an unsustainable, destructive scale leads to habitat loss, fragments animal populations, and increases the spread of infectious diseases. The impacts of covid showed how disease management is a priority world-wide. Practicing sustainable forestry methods like Continuous Cover Forestry (selective thinning of trees, with no clear felling) will help us to protect forest habitats globally, and may be a step towards protecting against the spread of diseases. It’s simple: Trees make life better Trees are the keystone of a healthy environment – both rural and urban – at a local and global scale. Through mitigating flooding and reducing hot temperatures in built environments, trees provide physical protection against climate challenges. Our world is a healthier place to live when it has trees in it; they improve air quality, and reduce illness. Overall, it’s very clear: Trees Make Life Better. Help us keep growing the Forest Donate Manage Cookie Preferences