Bianca Ambrose-Oji

Forest Research - Forestry Commission UK · CESB

Active citizens may contribute to the environmental, social, and institutional resilience of cities. This review discusses how citizen initiatives protect biodiversity hotspots, contribute to social cohesion, institutional innovation, and diversity in urban green space management. Challenges related to social inclusiveness, ecological connectivity...

Ash dieback Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (T. Kowalski), is an alien fungal disease probably introduced to Europe from Asia that currently presents a significant threat to native ash (Fraxinus L. spp.). In the United Kingdom a large proportion of ash trees are found outside of woodlands. This means that a wide diversity of land owners and managers are st...

Forest and woodland owners and managers are generally perceived to be acting slowly in addressing environmental change by adapting their forestry practice. Diversification of tree species composition and stand structure is widely promoted as one adaptive approach to increasing the resilience of forests to climate change and other threats. Land mana...

Forests are under increasing pressure with increasing risk of conflicts between stakeholder groups with different interests in sustainable forest management (SFM). This study investigated the different dimensions of conflict as perceived by private forest owners and other stakeholders, and the likely impact of these pressures on SFM in a southern S...

Policy makers are challenged to find ways of influencing and supporting land manager behaviours and actions to deal with the impacts of increasing pressure from tree pests and diseases. This paper investigates attitudes and behaviours of farmers towards managing trees on farmland for pests and diseases. Data collection with farmers included deliber...

Green (and blue) spaces receive attention as important components of cities that can help to mitigate the effects of climate change, support biodiversity and improve public health. Green space planning aims to transform cities towards urban sustainability and resilience. In a longitudinal study, representatives from eleven European municipalities t...

This summary report provides results from the Public Perceptions of Urban Trees survey and focus group research undertaken by Forest Research during 2020/21 across Great Britain. The key focus of the research was to explore people’s attitudes and perceptions towards trees in urban areas, tree cover, support for tree planting, and management and mai...

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment stresses that it is possible to manage ecosystems so as to strengthen their capacity to provide a range of goods and services. In reality, the delivery of ecosystem services reflects policy and delivery mechanisms, the environment, and the objectives of landowners and managers. Amid gradual changes to forest poli...

Forests worldwide are facing increasing pressures, with human travel and trade assisting the spread of pests and diseases. Climate change is likely to enhance the negative impacts of pests and diseases, which cause global declines and local extinctions. In this research we focus on three local and regional knowledge networks in the UK concerned wit...

The complexity of forest protection and management issues at global, regional, national, and local scale levels mitigates against simple governance solutions. Forests produce valuable goods and services that cross the private (e.g. timber) and public (e.g. biodiversity, hydrological regulation) domains, and are at increasing risk from global and lo...

The British Woodlands Survey 2020 (BWS2020) was a multi-partner project, led by the Sylva Foundation and undertaken with funding from the Forestry Commission to explore awareness, action, and aspiration among the forestry sector to environmental change. The survey was the first repeat of a similar and baseline survey undertaken in 2015, providing a...

Oak processionary moth (Thaumetopoea processionea) or OPM was accidentally introduced into London on imported oak trees and now poses a threat to the future of oak in the urban landscape. Early attempts at eradication of the moth failed and significant resources have since been spent by government on monitoring and controlling OPM (through the use...

This paper explores the potential contribution of trees and forest to the mental wellbeing of diverse populations in Britain. We use a conceptual framework that makes a distinction between three different levels of engagement: everyday life; green health promotion; and green therapeutic care. We then use researched and evaluated case studies in Bri...

The Rapid Evidence Assessment considers 1. the impact of policy tools - grants, subsidies, programmes, provision of advice - on the response of land managers to tree pests and diseases, and 2. the potential of formal networks to act as disseminators of information and knowledge, and mediators of change.

Government policy across the UK seeks to encourage woodland owners, both commercial and non-commercial, to implement resilient management of their forests and woodlands. However, there are significant barriers to the uptake of resilient forestry practice, for instance, uncertainty about the efficacy of action, the costs involved, and the perceived...

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) and nature-based solutions are increasingly recognized as instruments to address urban sustainability challenges, yet rely on a good understanding of complex social-ecological system (SES) to function adequately. Adaptive co-management (ACM), engaging a broad variety of stakeholders in collaborative learning, is an...

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) is a promising concept when developing multifunctional green space systems to address major challenges of urbanisation such as increasing social cohesion, promoting the transition to a green economy, adaptation to climate change and conservation of biodiversity. In response to the European Commission’s Communication...

There is increasing interest in understanding, valuing and supporting the variety of ecosystem services that forests and woodlands can provide in the United Kingdom. Land owners and managers can play a key role in the delivery of forest ecosystem services through active woodland management and woodland creation. This report explores evidence for la...

Compact urban development, social demands and austerity measures are increasing pressures on urban greenspace. Meanwhile, active citizens, defined as voluntary individuals or groups who self-organize to contribute to urban green space development, provide ecological and social benefits to urban societies. This has inspired local governments to seek...

This document reports on social research conducted as part of the Pine Marten Reintroduction Feasibility Project in the Forest of Dean led by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) and partners including the Vincent Wildlife Trust and the Forestry Commission. Stakeholder and public understanding, perceptions and attitudes towards pine martens and...

We adopted a ‘360-degree’ research method for British Woodlands Survey 2017, whereby stakeholders were engaged in designing the survey, providing data, and reviewing outcomes. Forty-eight workshop delegates ranked priority themes provided by 221 respondents in an initial survey, for UK countries: England, Scotland and Wales. Overall, Societal attit...

Improving resilience in forests relies on an understanding of the values, knowledge and practices associated with forests. In this paper, based on a case study from the UK, we present qualitative data on how the concept of resilience is understood by decision-makers, the effectiveness of existing policy tools to promote resilient forests and the cu...

Cet article étudie l’apport potentiel des arbres et de la forêt au bien-être mental de différentes populations en Grande-Bretagne. Nous utilisons un cadre conceptuel qui distingue trois niveaux différents de mobilisation : la vie quotidienne, la promotion de la santé par la nature et les soins par les thérapies vertes. Des études de cas en Grande-B...

This guide aims to provide a tools for navigating through important urban green space governance principles and issues. The guide synthesises results from the European research project GREEN SURGE about the current state-of-art of knowledge and innovative practice of UGI governance (see also: www.greensurge.eu). The guide is aimed at a broad range...

The presentation explores the impacts of one part of Kew Botanic Garden’s major outreach programme called Grow Wild. Some of the impacts on individuals and community groups of sowing and growing wild flowers is presented.

This report is based on the project titled "Future Foresters – Embracing Diversity in the Science and Practice of Forestry". The aims were to examine the issue of diversity in the forestry workforce, and to explore ways of widening engagement in forestry careers. This is essential in order to nurture the next generation of forestry professionals wh...

Active citizens may contribute to the environmental, social, and institutional resilience of cities. This review discusses how citizen initiatives protect biodiversity hotspots, contribute to social cohesion, institutional innovation, and diversity in urban green space management. Challenges related to social inclusiveness, ecological connectivity...

Between 2014 and 2016 Forest Services (FC England) undertook a series of interlinked engagement activities as part of the Woodlands Into Management (WIM) programme. The overarching objective of WiM was to get more woodlands into management by targeting the supply side and early value added chain of the forestry economy. To do this a series of event...

The book Green Exercise discusses the synergistic health benefit of being active in the presence of nature and provides a balanced overview on all aspects of Green Exercise, including evidence from physiology, ecology, psychology, sociology, the environmental sciences, and more from across the world. The book explores the future of Green Exercise,...

Employee mobility can be viewed as beneficial for both staff and organisations in terms of ensuring a good mix of skilled people in the right locations as well as providing for individual career development. The compulsory movement of employees in the GB public forest sector has declined in recent years as the objectives of forestry have changed an...

This report describes our investigations of 18 examples of innovative governance arrangements in urban green space management across Europe. In this analyses, we focused on three interrelated research questions: i) What do innovative governance arrangements look like in terms of aims, actors, structure, contexts, dynamics, and which of their elemen...

Green spaces provide a variety of benefits that contribute to more healthy and attractive cities. This paper, building upon results of the EU FP7 GREEN SURGE project, aims to identify, describe and categorize innovative participatory governance practices characterized by non-governmental actor involvement in the maintenance, decision-making or mana...

Hemery, G., Petrokofsky, G., Ambrose-Oji, B., Atkinson, G., Broadmeadow, M., Edwards, D., Harrison, C., Lloyd, S., Mumford, J., O’Brien, L., Reid, C., Seville, M., Townsend, M., Weir, J., and Yeomans, A.,

This scoping study and report arose from discussions between Inverness College UHI and Skills Development Scotland. The need to understand and clarify the skills and training needs of the forestry and timber technologies sector was clear. Through a proposed action plan, the study should inform specific review, curricula innovation and development t...

It is a time of fast moving and significant change for the spatial planning systems across the UK, as well as for those public bodies such as the Forestry Commission that have traditionally been charged with maintaining and enhancing public benefits from environmental resources within planning policy frameworks. Within the field of forest policy, a...

Social and community enterprise projects in woodland management are on the rise in Britain. In this article scientists from Forest Research reflect upon the conservation and wildlife impacts of such ventures, looking at a range of business models.

Description: The contents of this report outlines the process of stakeholder composition and structure for the establishment of local Learning Alliances of the ULLs as part of the EU FP7 (ENV.2013.6.2-5-603567) GREEN SURGE project (2013-2017).

Description: The contents of this report outlines the process of stakeholder composition and structure for the establishment of local Learning Alliances of the ULLs as part of the EU FP7 (ENV.2013.6.2-5-603567) GREEN SURGE project (2013-2017).

This is the third report from a research project on ‘investigating and assessing the involvement of volunteers in flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) outcomes’. It presents the findings from primary data collected in England through four methods: On-line survey of volunteers; volunteer activity diaries; a value for money analysis; and case stu...

This report provides baseline data on flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) volunteering and presents a typology that aids in the categorisation of data on this type of volunteering. This can provide useful information for any future segmentation study that might be undertaken to assist the Environment Agency in taking a more targeted approach t...

Description: The contents of this report outline the results of the first phase of research into innovative forms of participatory governance in Europe as part of the EU FP7 project GREEN SURGE (ENV.2013.6.2-5-603567; 2013-2017)

In a time of continuing urbanization, there is an increasing focus on developing attractive and healthy urban environments. Green spaces, ranging from woodlands and parks to allotment gardens and green roofs, provide a range of ecosystem services that contribute to better cities (Lovell and Taylor, 2013). The Green Infrastructure and Urban Biodiver...

Community forestry in the UK has developed rapidly over the last 25 years, and the wide range of drivers has resulted in a great variety of relationships between communities and woodlands, and over 650 community woodlands. Given strong current policy interest, the study aims to assess existing evidence for the impact of these initiatives. The varie...

In 2013 Forestry Commission Scotland established an independent advisory group to undertake a 'health check' looking at what Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) has achieved in its work with local communities over the past ten years. This report details qualitative research undertaken with 22 community groups, 6 NGOs and 20 FES staff, assessing the ou...

The philosophy of the WIAT programme was that by improving the look and condition of a woodland, people's perceptions of their area would change, and more visitors would visit what were previously neglected or underused woodlands. By increasing access it was suggested that there would be greater community use and sense of satisfaction of their loca...

Urban forest governance includes local government and community engagement. Yet local authority (LA) managers are often caught between centralising and participatory agendas. To better understand the situation in Scotland, this paper analyses qualitative data from three projects to explore the relevance of governance structures and processes, LA la...

Twelve case studies were used to investigate and demonstrate: i. How the Forestry Commission and partner organisations use social media in citizen science projects ii. Comment on the most successful uses of social media iii. Identify the underlying principles contributing to this success

This report presents findings from a research project undertaken by Forest Research for the Environment Agency (EA) on 'Investigating and appraising the involvement of volunteers in achieving Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) outcomes'. The aim was to develop a consistent approach to evaluating the benefits of working with volunteers as part...

The report, commissioned by The Mersey Forest explores the evidence of health benefits associated with different forms of mindfulness in forest contexts. Forms of mindfulness from MBCBT through to the Japanese concept of forest-bathing, and including forest walking are examined. These approaches are all shown to improve a number of quantitative and...

Community woodland groups are growing, and there are now over 650 groups in England, Scotland and Wales. The rise is the result of both social pressure and changes in policy. Groups are keen to learn from each other's experiences, and policy stakeholders seek evidence of the effectiveness of past and current policy. While some experiences have been...

La implementación de sistemas agropecuarios ambientalmente sostenibles es necesaria no solo por razones ecológicas, sino que la reducción en las utilidades provenientes de estrategias de vida agropecuarias conmina la búsqueda de alternativas al manejo convencional. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las alternativas exploradas hasta el momento, como los...

The BWW grant scheme in Wales aimed to bring neglected woodland back into productive management and also increase the area of woodland planted. The impacts it sought to achieve as a result were linked to: increasing rural employment; reversing biodiversity decline; mitigating climate change; and increasing the economic value of woodlands. IN this m...

Diversity, Geographical, and Consumption Patterns of Traditional Vegetables in Sociolinguistic Communities in Benin: Implications for Domestication and Utilization. Traditional vegetables in many African rural areas are an important part of the daily diet and economy but have been poorly documented until recently. We undertook a survey in Benin on...