Our DiversiTree project contributes to our efforts to protect and enhance the city’s urban forest.
The urban forest – another name for all the trees in the city – helps make the city a nice place live and work in. It also helps us adapt to climate change and support biodiversity. A variety of species and ages is important to a healthy and resilient urban forest.
Our DiversiTree project promotes the importance of diversity to the city’s urban forest. The project started in September 2023 and has a planned end date of spring 2026, with legacy projects continuing past then.
The project focuses on identifying and managing ‘veteran’ trees along the riverbanks. It also incorporates our work to engage underrepresented local people and communities.
DiversiTree is part of the River Cam Climate Action through Nature project. The Cambridge Nature Network partnership is running this wider project. It has received funding from the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund.
Read our Tree Strategy to learn more about our work to protect and enhance the city’s trees.
Veteran trees
Veteran trees have unique physical features such as hollow trunks, deadwood and cavities. They can be any age – the features could be the result of natural damage, management, or their environment.
These trees are vital for biodiversity. They offer habitats for wildlife that cannot thrive in younger trees, including birds, bats, insects, fungi and lichens. Many veteran trees have stood for centuries and hold cultural or historical value.
Mature veteran trees enhance the city’s resilience to climate change and extreme weather. They absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and help regulate urban temperatures. They also help to reduce stormwater runoff.
We have surveyed a 10km stretch of the River Cam, from Baits Bite Lock to Grantchester Meadows, to identify veteran trees and potential land suitable for succession planting. The results will inform the planned project outcomes, one of which is a new sustainable management plan for our trees. This will help to ensure the health and longevity of our veteran trees.
We will also produce a guide for landowners to looking after veteran trees. It will offer practical advice on how to care for them and promote best practices for their preservation.
Charter for sustainable veteran tree management along the River Cam
If you own land along the River Cam between Baits Bite Lock and Grantchester Meadows and think you have veteran trees there, we want to hear from you.
Check the map above to see what veteran trees we have found there, and please let us know if we missed any.
Register your interest and we will invite you to sign our charter to collaborate and share knowledge. We can also collectively apply for potential funding to help with management, to increase the likelihood of success.
The charter is not legally binding – it simply serves as a shared commitment to our common goals.
Community engagement
We host walks and talks for the public around these wonderful trees, and provide examples of good working practice in action by our framework contractors.
We are also working with some fantastic organisations to involve local people and communities in the DiversiTree project. One of these is Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination (CCI).
Over the last year we have worked with CCI to produce a series of events and activities. The events encouraged environmental stewardship and connection with our natural heritage. They provided educational opportunities for all ages.
Visit Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination to learn more about these events, which have included:
- free guided walks exploring the magnificent veteran trees and willows along the river
- a series of workshops, some led by local artists, which were attended by more than 2,000 people, including school children
Weaving Words with Willows: free interactive storytelling workshops
If you lived like an old willow tree, what would life be like? Studio Places ran some workshops for us during National Tree Week to help you find out!
Each workshop began with a short walk and introduction to the amazing life of walking willow trees. Participants then used storytelling prompts and creative materials to make their own stories and connect with these ancient trees.
A physical storybook, written in natural ink made from oak galls and alder cones on paper seeded with native wildflowers, will be showcased when completed, as well as an audiobook of the stories read by participants.
We used funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to provide the workshops, which took place from 26 to 30 November 2025.
