The National Urban Forestry Unit (NUFU) was a British charity established in 1995 to promote

urban forestry Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in Urban area, urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry involves both planning and management, including the programming o ...

. Urban forestry is the care and management of single

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and tree

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

s in

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

settings for the purpose of improving the

urban environment An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

. Urban forestry involves both planning and management, including the programming of care and maintenance operations of the urban forest. The National Urban Forestry Unit was a charitable organisation which worked to raise awareness of the positive contribution that trees make to the quality of life in towns. It championed urban and community forestry to those tackling such issues as public health, leisure and recreation, land reclamation, built development, heritage and education. It was wound up in 2005. The National Urban Forestry Unit's aims were: To increase awareness, understanding and popular support for trees in towns; to encourage a strategic approach to the development of urban forestry; to promote technical excellence, research, innovation and best value in all aspects of urban forestry; to provide a national focus for the exchange of information and good practice in urban forestry; and to champion the work of the growing number of UK urban and community forestry projects. NUFU evolved from the smaller Black Country Urban Forestry Unit into a national charity. Its established the

Black Country Urban Forest The Black Country Urban Forest (BCUF) is a project to make urban forestry the characteristic landscape of one of England's industrial areas, The Black Country. It is not a forest in the modern sense of a large area of managed woodland. It is clo ...

, a programme of

supported by the

Millennium Commission The Millennium Commission, a United Kingdom public body, was set up to celebrate the turn of the millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery to assist communities in marking the close of the second millennium and celebra ...

, which achieved 362 hectares of new woodland planting across the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

. NUFU also produced a series of case studies of best practice in urban forestry, now preserved in an online archive by the

Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country is a wildlife trust covering Birmingham and the Black Country in the West Midlands of England. It covers five of the seven districts of the West Midlands county: Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell ...

References

Urban forestry organizations Community-based forestry Defunct forestry agencies Environmental charities based in the United Kingdom Forestry in the United Kingdom Environmental organisations based in England Environmental organizations established in 1995 Organizations disestablished in 2005 1995 establishments in England 2005 disestablishments in England Defunct organisations based in England {{Forestry-stub