WHY TREES MATTER
The Benefits of Planting Trees
Planting a tree is one of the simplest actions we can take for nature, but its benefits can continue for decades — and sometimes centuries.
Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, provide food and shelter for wildlife, protect soils, help manage water, cool the places around them and contribute to healthier, more resilient landscapes.
But perhaps their greatest value comes from doing all of these things at the same time.
At Gift a Tree, we don’t see planting as the end of the story. A tree is the beginning of a habitat — and what develops around it can be every bit as important as the tree itself.
WHY PLANT TREES?
Six Ways Trees Make a Difference
A single tree cannot solve the world’s environmental problems. But planted in the right place, protected as it grows and considered as part of a wider habitat, a tree can provide an extraordinary range of benefits.
Carbon
Trees capture carbon as they grow. Trees absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and store carbon in their wood, roots and surrounding soils. Long-lived trees can continue storing carbon for many decades.
Wildlife
Trees create habitat. From insects and fungi to birds and mammals, trees provide food, shelter, nesting places and connections between habitats.
Air
Trees help improve air quality. Leaves can capture some airborne particles, while trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis.
Water
Trees help manage water. Roots help water infiltrate soil, while trees and woodland can slow surface runoff and contribute to healthier, more resilient landscapes.
Soil
Trees protect and enrich soil. Tree roots help stabilise soil, fallen leaves return organic matter to the ground, and the life associated with trees contributes to healthier soil ecosystems.
People
Trees make better places to live. Trees provide shade, cooling, beauty and contact with nature. Green spaces containing trees can also support recreation and wellbeing.
MORE THAN A TREE
The Real Benefit Begins When a Tree Becomes Habitat
A tree doesn’t exist in isolation.
As it grows, its bark develops cracks and crevices. Leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds provide food. Branches offer nesting and roosting places. Roots interact with fungi and microorganisms beneath the soil. Fallen leaves and eventually deadwood support another community of life entirely.
Put trees together with ponds, wildflower areas, hedgerows and undisturbed ground and something much bigger begins to happen: you start creating an ecosystem.
This is one of the lessons we’ve learned through rewilding the Gift a Tree nature reserve in Devon. We stopped trying to make every part of the land tidy and productive and began giving nature more room to decide what happened next.
The wildlife followed.
TREES & CLIMATE
Do Trees Really Help With Carbon Dioxide?
Yes — but the answer deserves more explanation than simply saying that trees “offset carbon.”
Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Some of that carbon becomes stored in trunks, branches and roots, while carbon can also accumulate in woodland soils.
How much carbon a particular tree stores depends on many factors, including its species, age, size, growing conditions and how long it survives. That is why we avoid pretending that every newly planted tree represents an identical amount of carbon.
Tree planting is also not a substitute for reducing avoidable emissions. Its wider value is that a well-established tree can store carbon while simultaneously creating habitat, supporting biodiversity, protecting soil and contributing to a healthier landscape.
For us, those combined benefits are what make tree planting so worthwhile.
A LIVING LEGACY
The Benefits Don't Stop After Planting
YEAR 1 — ESTABLISHING
Roots begin establishing and the young tree starts adapting to its surroundings.
AS IT GROWS — PROVIDING
The developing canopy provides shade and shelter while leaves, flowers and seeds begin supporting other life.
MATURITY — SUPPORTING
A mature tree can become a substantial habitat in its own right, supporting countless interactions between plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms.
THE NEXT GEN — CONTINUING
A tree planted today may still be providing shade, food and habitat long after the person who planted it has gone.
PLANTING WELL
Planting More Trees Isn't the Whole Answer
Tree planting works best when we ask not only “How many trees can we plant?” but also “What belongs here?”
The right species, location and planting method matter. Native and locally appropriate trees can be particularly valuable for wildlife, while some landscapes — including established grasslands, wetlands and other naturally open habitats — should not simply be covered with trees.
Newly planted trees also need the opportunity to survive. Establishment, appropriate protection and long-term care matter far more than impressive planting-day numbers.
At Gift a Tree, our aim is not simply to put trees into the ground. It is to help create something that has a genuine opportunity to become part of the landscape.
YOUR TREE CAN BE PART OF THE STORY
Plant Something That Could Outlive You
Most things we buy eventually disappear.
A tree is different.
Given the opportunity to establish and grow, it can provide food, shelter, shade and habitat year after year — and may continue doing so for generations.
Whether you plant a tree as a gift, in memory of somebody, to celebrate a special moment or simply because you want to give something back to nature, its story doesn’t have to end with you.
Plant a tree today and give nature the opportunity to turn it into something much bigger.