Establishing an organic field scale forest nursery under Soil Association organic standards

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To place the UK on the path to Net Zero by 2050, the Committee on Climate Change recommends increasing UK woodland cover from its current level of 13% of total land cover to at least 17% and potentially 19%. A 19% increase means an extra 1.6 billion treesThe Government's Tree Action Pan 2021-2024 has committed to increasing tree planting rates across the UK to 30,000Ha per year by the end of this Parliament.For public health and environmental reasons, pesticides, that are used to control weeds, disease and insects are at continual risk of being banned in the UK.To date the UK is meeting demand by importing trees and plants in unprecendented quantities. According to The Woodland Trust, imports rose by 92% from £52 million in 2016 to £100 million in 2020\. But the increased trajectory of imports is directly associated with the spread of disease. At least 20 serious tree pests and diseases have arrived since 1990 resulting in the loss of tens of millions of trees. Most have been brought in by imported trees.The UK has one of the best climates in the world for raising young trees. Investment in new forest nursery techniques and technologies will equip them to grown all the trees needed to meet planting targets, while creating jobs. Clearing up the devastation caused by ash dieback will cost an estimated £15 billion. A fraction of that could galvanise UK forest nurseries into production of diverse, healthy, native, regional trees on an industrial scaleThis project will:* Create a 1Ha forest nursery incorporating a minimum 5 tree and hedging species* Assess the effectiveness of solar powered crop establishment technology* Grow all plants to Soil Association organic standards* Assess germination, plant health, potential yield and cost* Assess the benefits of organically approved, biobased soil conditioners and seed treatments* Analyse the organic forest nursery marketThe aim is to not only improve the productivity and resilience of our own farming business but also to demonstrate and report a cropping opportunity that can be replicated by other growers throughout the UK's regions.The results from the study will be pooled with existing UK forestry research to help to form a solid basis for further growth in the face of increased competition from imports and a decreasing number of chemical plant protective products.