Planting ideas in the urban forest: autobiography of a tree expert

In these challenging environmental times, we’re becoming more aware of the importance of our urban trees and woodlands, what we call the urban forest. This vital natural resource can make our towns and cities more attractive, green and healthy places to live. As concerns grow about the environment in many cities around the world, the importance of protecting and enhancing our urban forests can only increase. Mark Johnston has spent a lifetime working with trees for the benefit of people and their environment. In fifty years as a tree expert, he has worked as a tree surgery contractor, tree officer in local government, consultant in private practice, government advisor and university academic. But that doesn’t begin to describe Mark’s remarkable story. During that time he developed many exciting initiatives that have pioneered new ideas and approaches to urban greening, achieving national and international impact. This includes city-wide projects in London, Dublin, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast and various national programmes. As well as involving countless thousands of urban residents in planting and caring for trees, these projects attracted extensive media coverage from television, radio and newspapers. For the first time, Mark gives the inside story on all his initiatives with plenty of unpublished information and many revealing insights from a personal perspective. Mark Johnston was born in London and holds dual Irish and British citizenship. While he has worked in many different countries, his home has been in Belfast for the past thirty-two years. His contribution to trees and the urban environment has been widely acknowledged with several prestigious national and international awards.