Celebrating over 10 years of United Bank of Carbon and the University of Leeds

The UBoC team at Leeds 

• Dr Cat Scott, Scientific Lead 
• Professor Dominick Spracklen, Scientific Lead 
• Dr Thomas Sloan, Forest Science and Policy Fellow 
• Dr Robin Hayward, Communications and Engagement Officer 
• Anna Gugan, Natural Capital Valuation Officer (now with Leeds City Council)

Spotlight on…Cat Scott

Cat’s UBoC journey began with a period of volunteering, which she carried out alongside her PhD on the climate impacts of forests (2009-2013).  

At the end of Cat’s PhD, the UBoC team founded the Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere and Forest (LEAF) centre at the University of Leeds to bring together a wider network of forest-related researchers. UBoC funded Cat’s roles as LEAF Co-ordinator and then Director for the next six years (2013-2019), and part-funded her time on secondment with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2018-2019.  

In 2019, Cat secured an independent research position and took on management of the UBoC-supported team at the University.  

The strong partnership between UBoC and the University of Leeds has truly allowed Cat’s career to flourish. 

To find out more about the UBoC team at Leeds, please click here. 

Volunteering

Volunteering plays a key role in the University's Climate Plan, which embeds sustainability and climate change into the curriculum. UBoC’s approach aligns well with this; they seek to engage local communities in local projects. 

Within the University, the School of Earth and Environment and the Sustainability Service have been key connections for UBoC. Implementing the volunteering programme at Gair Wood, the University's recently planted woodland, and the campus i-Tree project – which saw 1,400 trees on campus surveyed by volunteer staff and students – are just two examples of how the University and UBoC are working in partnership to enact positive, sustainable change for the University community.

Volunteers take part in regular tree-planting sessions across UBoC project sites – including Ingleborough, Hardknott, and Gair Wood. Volunteers are given the opportunity to learn about the projects and the importance of woodland creation and landscape restoration, and understand the real benefits they are bringing to local environments.  

At Gair Wood, over 300 generous volunteers from the University and local community planted almost 6000 trees. In total, 66,000 trees have been planted, creating a brand new woodland for the city of Leeds.  

UBoC Affiliated Researchers  

• Francesca Darvill
• George Porton
• Hannah Birch
• Hannah Sherwood
• Hazel Mooney
• Ian Willey
• Jamie Carr
• John Hodgson
• Molly Simmons
• Robyn Wrigley
• Stephen Denison
• Will Rolls

UBoC collaborate on a number of projects – with many taking place across Yorkshire thanks to the connection with the University. The many lessons learned are applicable not only in the local area, but with projects nationally.

Wild Ingleborough

The land around Ingleborough, the second-highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, has suffered biodiversity loss over many years.  

Together, Natural England’s Ingleborough National Nature Reserve team, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the University of Leeds, UBoC, Woodland Trust and WWF are restoring wildlife habitats around Ingleborough from the valley floor to the top of the mountain – a process that will benefit both the planet and people. 

Working with local landowners, farmers and communities, as well as visitors to the Dales, the Wild Ingleborough team share skills and knowledge in land management and restorative farming to enhance local biodiversity and nature tourism. Wildlife is being allowed to thrive with the connection of existing nature reserves, a large-scale habitat restoration process that will also benefit people – through carbon capture, flood reduction, job creation and improved water quality and soil health. Some areas will see woodland creation through native tree planting, and in other areas the vegetation will be allowed to regenerate naturally.  

UBoC and Leeds researchers lead scientific monitoring at the site, tracking changes in the landscape over time, which helps to build an evidence base for the benefits of restoration. 

Hardknott Forest

UBoC and Leeds are key partners in a historic opportunity to create the largest semi-natural woodland in the Lake District. 

The project links Hardknott Forest – a 600-hectare conifer plantation – with Duddon Valley Woodlands, an existing stretch of ancient oak woodlands that snake down the valley to the coast. The plantation will be transformed into native habitats of oak and birch woodland, bogs, and open ground, all of which will enhance biodiversity, store large amounts of carbon to help mitigate climate change and provide opportunities for people to enjoy a wild, upland woodland. 

Recently, UBoC were thrilled to receive a government Green Recovery Challenge Fund grant that will help continue the fantastic work on the Restoring Hardknott Forest site – a process that is continually informed by ongoing research as the team study how fast native trees are returning, how quickly they grow and how much carbon they store. 

UBoC works to support environmentally and socially responsible partnerships between academia, businesses, local authorities, NGOs, and local communities. The UBoC team at Leeds has recently worked with organisations including Leeds City Council, the White Rose Forest, Forest Research, WWF, Yorkshire Peat Partnership, Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, the Woodland Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Forestry England and Natural England. 

Partnerships with the wider community also play a key role in UBoC’s objectives. Take for example the ‘All Our Land’ initiative, a programme of creative sessions exploring the relationship between the upland landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales and climate change. In 2022, young people in the Yorkshire Dales joined a series of creative workshops facilitated by artists and scientists, including UBoC scientists Cat Scott and Dom Spracklen. The resulting artwork was exhibited at The Folly in Settle – and also feature work by artists Philippa Troutman and Tony Stephenson.  

Closer to home, the University of Leeds Campus Tree Trail was developed in 2022 to highlight the value of urban trees. The project drew on data from the UBoC-funded i-Tree Project, which identified and measured every tree on campus in 2018 to understand their capacity to provide carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services. Alongside the self-guided version of the trail, Dr Robin Hayward leads live tours of campus trees as part of student teaching and community events, helping others to gain experience of real-world urban design and ecology. Robin also shares findings from the University’s tree research groups at events, online, and in public presentations. 

Influencing policy

The UBoC team at Leeds have worked closely with Leeds City Council to help shape the city’s future tree growth – with local authority policy aims to double the canopy cover of the city.  

The team have offered advice on carbon storage in threatened trees in the city and they’ve collaborated as part of the White Rose Forest partnership. 

They’ve also supported the development of new tree replacement metrics for the Local Plan, which calls for the planting of three trees for every one tree felled, but did not account for differences between trees. The UBoC team developed a method for estimating the number of trees that are required to replace a tree of a given condition, species and size, in order to achieve parity and carbon sequestration (a process by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere). The findings of this work, documented in this report are being integrated into LCC policy, which went out for public consultation as part of the Local Plan in late 2022.