Birmingham, UK Urban Forest Mas
Sets High Standard for European C
By Michelle Sutton, City Trees Editor
I
n 2021, the largest and second most populous munic-
ipality in the United Kingdom, the City of Birmingham,
England, released a thirty-year
Urban Forest Master
Plan. It is the first UFMP for the City, and one that
could serve as a model for other European cities.
Noted for its commitment to green space for public
health and enjoyment, Birmingham (pop. ~ 1.4 million)
has an estimated one million trees in its urban forest. It
has the longest running continuous street tree planting
program and more parks than any other major city in
Europe. Birmingham is a member of the global
Biophilic
Cities Network and since 2019 is a Tree City of the World.
Birmingham's thirty-year UFMP (2021-2051) reflects
the City's commitment to staying at the forefront
of green development and sustainability as already
shown by its Future City Plan-2021, Climate Action
Plan, Green Living Spaces Plan, Parks and Open
Space Strategy, and Birmingham Tree Policy.
Three of the key players behind the UFMP are Municipal
Forestry Institute (MFI) grads: Former tree officer
and principal consultant of McDermott & Associates
Treecare and Training Ian "Mac" McDermott of
Birmingham TreePeople; professor and cofounder
of the
Nature Based Solutions Institute, Dr. Cecil
Konijnendijk; and Chartered (Urban) Forester Kenton
Rogers, cofounder of
Treeconomics, an urban for-
estry consultancy group based in the UK.
McDermott served as the link between parties in that
he instigated the contract with the City of Birmingham
on behalf of Birmingham TreePeople, a third-sector/
nonprofit organization with which McDermott has
volunteered for many years. Konijnendijk's role was
to help with the international aspects of the policy
analysis, to contribute to vision and key performance
indicator (KPI) development, and to facilitate the work-
shops the team held with key stakeholders. Rogers's role
was to put the project plan together with McDermott
24 CityTREES
