The life of a tree officer

It’s a job many have not even heard of, but is essential to preserving trees across the UK.

Seed Gathering Season is fast approaching (22 September) and, for those not in the know, is an opportunity to inspire everyone to grow the trees of the future.

It provides the opportunity for people of all ages to connect with nature and gather seeds, nuts and fruits just before the autumn equinox.

For some people working in local government, however, caring for the trees of the future is the central purpose of their working day.

Meet the tree officers.

Tree officers, or arboricultural officers, are responsible for managing trees, in order to maintain and improve the amenity, environmental and wildlife benefits of the tree population.

Much like Dr Seuss’ the Lorax, they “speak for the trees” by collaborating between residents, community groups, developers and politicians to promote engagement with the environment.

Pests, diseases and mismanagement can be harmful and even deadly to trees, so the officers must work to protect them from these issues.

Another important role in the tree maintenance world is that of the tree wardens. These are volunteers who plant, look after and stand up for the trees in their patch. They can also help to rejuvenate local woodlands, arrange local planting days, and go into schools to talk about the value of trees.

Trees and the wildlife that they sustain are an essential part of the fight against climate change, as well as improving our physical and mental health.

However, the Woodland Trust found that over 50 per cent of our woodland wildlife species are in decline, and woodland butterflies in particular have plummeted by 58 per cent since 1990.

We spoke to tree officer and vice chair of the London Tree Officers Association (LTOA) Jessica Stocks, about what an average day protecting trees looks like:

How did you become a tree officer?

I started out studying History of Art and Design, but then fell in love with tree work through becoming a tree surgeon. I decided I wanted to be outside working close with nature because I love being outside and also keeping fit.

Becoming a tree surgeon ticked those boxes, so I did an eight-week course to be able to climb trees, do aerial rescue, use a chainsaw, work at height etc. I was a qualified tree surgeon and I got a job with a big commercial contractor in London.

Through the job I began to get to know the tree officers in different boroughs and then heard about a tree officer job becoming available.

When I got the role, I didn’t go back to tree work and I’ve really enjoyed being a tree officer.

I’m not someone that can sit in front of a screen all day. There’s a huge amount of flexibility and independence with the job. It is a really appealing part of the position, particularly for neurodivergent people or anyone who might struggle with sitting in an office. It is great to be able to go out, not be surrounded by groups of people, and be able to look at trees all day.

What does an average day look like for you at work?

A usual day would be starting the morning by checking emails, which is typical for most jobs. We have a lot of interaction with residents that we need to keep on top of. Different requests for tree works come through as well via email. Then ideally there would be hours spent outside looking at trees.

We use visual tree assessment techniques which means we look for issues with trees’ health, as well as checking for good vitality and vigour. There is also the general pruning aspect – but trees do not need to be touched much at all. They are very capable of living all by themselves, and have outlived us for millenia. We look after them because we need to be looked after. We cut them away from buildings and roads, so a lot of the pruning work is to make sure the tree is thriving in built environments.

We also sometimes have to deal with planning applications. That’s a nice usual day.

What about an unusual day?

An atypical day could be something like responding to the aftermath of a storm. Everything is dropped. There’s usually one person fielding all the notifications, all the calls, and attempting to prioritise on the go. If there’s a large tree down on a busy road for example, that might get priority over a branch in the road.

Someone’s driving like a headless chicken trying to get to all these locations, and the other person is keeping track of what needs to be looked at and sending it to the contractors.

Why are tree officers so important?

There’s a huge amount of public and political interest at the moment in trees, but I’m not sure the awareness of our role has matched that. I think people still wonder: “who looks after the trees?"

Trees need to be looked after because often the reflex is to just remove them in favour of things like house building. One of the most important aspects of the role is providing recommendations for the planning applications. We try to make sure these building projects retain the trees they have on site because often developers want a clean slate to build what they want.

What is your favourite part of the job?

I love being out on a not too hot day and looking at trees. You focus entirely on another living organism. A long life to us is 120 years at a stretch, but some of the trees I am inspecting date back to the Victorian era.

There’s something humbling about knowing that this tree is perfectly capable of looking after itself, and that it is still here. Being as light-touch as possible is really the aim.

How do trees benefit public spaces and local communities?

One of the most effective things trees give us is urban cooling. This is the effect of simply having the canopy shading areas. Heat kills, and we have seen more deaths occurring in hotter summers. The cooling effect of trees is enormous – it can drop the temperature 50 per cent. So it’s really important we have those tree-lined streets.

Boroughs will also often have groups. They want to preserve some of the heritage of their area where there are historic lime tree avenues and magnificent older trees that they want to protect, and we’re there to facilitate that. My role in a previous borough involved offering tree walks to residents.

As soon as you put a tree somewhere, it just adds so much value. That’s not just financial value, but also physical, mental, psychological.