Farmer Action for Tree Resilience

The ‘Farmer Action for Tree Resilience’ project, led by Forest Research in collaboration with the University of Exeter, CCRI, FWAG South West, and the Organic Research Centre, focuses on understanding how farmers perceive and respond to the challenges of tree health and resilience on their land. It explores the motivations, barriers, and decision-making processes that shape whether and how farmers adopt practices to protect and enhance the health of trees within agricultural landscapes.

To achieve this, the project co-designs and tests targeted knowledge interventions with farmers and intermediary organisations such as advisory bodies, farmer networks, and community groups. These interventions aim to increase awareness of threats to tree health, build practical skills for resilience-focused land management, and encourage more proactive, long-term decision-making about trees on farms. By working directly with farmers and their support networks, the project seeks to bridge the knowledge–action gap which currently means farmers know what tree health issues might exist, but not how to take action on these on their own farms, foster farmer-champions who can share good practices, and ultimately enable more widespread integration of tree health and resilience measures into everyday farming systems.

Project Summary

Main aims and objectives

Understand farmer perspectives – Explore what motivates or prevents farmers from adopting tree health and resilience practices.
Identify barriers and enablers – Examine economic, social, and informational factors influencing decisions about trees on farms.
Co-design interventions – Work with farmers and advisory networks to develop and test knowledge-sharing tools and practical guidance.
Promote awareness and skills – Build farmer confidence in managing threats like pests, diseases, and climate change impacts on trees.
Foster farmer-champions – Support peer-to-peer learning so experienced farmers can inspire others to adopt resilient practices.
Integrate resilience into farming systems – Encourage long-term, sustainable management of trees as part of farm planning and land stewardship.
Close the knowledge–action gap – Translate research findings into practical, scalable solutions for the farming community.

ORC’s role

ORC provides access to farmers via its existing networks. This helps the project reach participants on the ground — farmers who can test, feedback on, and apply resilience practices. ORC is co-leading the development and delivery of interventions, working with other partners to design knowledge tools, practical guidance and support mechanisms that are usable by farmers.