logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2020
27m 53s

The Tree Trade

BBC Radio
About this episode

Politicians keep promising more trees – seen as good for the environment and for fighting climate change. Trees are also big business sustaining vital rural jobs. So will lots of new planting keep everyone happy? Chris Bowlby explores forestry’s future in one of its key locations – Northumberland. He visits the huge forest at Kielder, and a rural factory turning thousands of logs into essential materials for millions of British homes. But there are problems too – a thicket of bureaucracy surrounding planting, and questions about what sort of trees really do bring environmental gain.

Presenter: Chris Bowlby Producer: John Murphy

Up next
Sep 2020
Still in Business
For the final programme of the series, John Murphy returns to a selection of businesses that have come through this far. A fabric and haberdashery shop, a fruit farmer and a micro-pub. What’s their story of survival, what did they change and what of the future? The potential diff ... Show More
27m 51s
Sep 2020
Building Back Better
The pandemic and the resulting recession have led to widespread calls to recognise that we now have a once in a generation opportunity to re-think how we put the economy back together again. Research shows we can help our economy flourish again by prioritising spending on environ ... Show More
27m 46s
Sep 2020
Wine, Widgets and Brexit
As Brexit talks between the European Union and the UK got under way earlier this year, before anyone was using the word “pandemic”, Caroline Bayley began following two companies which both export to Britain– one in France, one in Germany – to see how they were planning for trade ... Show More
28m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2021
Seeing the Wood for the Trees
There have been big promises about tree-planting numbers over the last few years - but is there much point in planting more trees, if we're not looking after the ones we've already got? The Woodland Trust estimates that only 7% of the UK's native woodlands are in good ecological ... Show More
27m 39s
Aug 2022
The Sunday Read: ‘Can Planting a Trillion New Trees Save the World?’
<p>In the past decade, planting trees has come to represent many things: a virtuous act, a practical solution and a symbol of hope in the face of climate change. But can planting a trillion trees really save the world?</p><p>Visiting the Eden Reforestation Projects in Goiás, Braz ... Show More
50m 42s
Aug 2019
How Many Trees Would We Need to Plant to Slow Climate Change?
Trees pull and store carbon, but lots of land that could support them is deforested. Learn how researchers think planting trees could help mitigate climate change in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio ... Show More
7m 6s
Jun 2021
Can 5 million trees make a difference?
Should we all be planting more trees? Ghana’s forests have been depleted, but the government wants to restore them to their former glory. Earlier this month, it challenged Ghanaians to plant five million trees in a single day – a nationwide stand against climate change. But is it ... Show More
12m 21s
Jan 2024
Can you save a rainforest by paying people not to cut trees?
Come with us into B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest where Coastal First Nations are working to protect the trees using revenue from carbon offsets. But skepticism over the system may be putting the experiment at risk. We’ll hear about climate-friendly cookbooks to help you make a new ... Show More
54m 12s
Nov 2021
COP26 Climate Contradictions (with Mike Wood, MP)
Mike Wood, Conservative MP for Dudley South, says his constituents understand the urgency about climate change. But he tells Bloomberg's Caroline Hepker and Yuan Potts that the Chancellor's tax cut for domestic air travel in the U.K. is right thing to help with leveling up.Plus C ... Show More
22m 3s