News

The LEAF Centre has gathered on campus at the University of Leeds for our annual meeting to share ideas, updates from research, and to restrengthen connections between our often far-flung teams. LEAF Day is our annual opportunity to prioritise bringing people together and learning from the wealth of experience within our group. During the day,...

Air-polluting microplastics have been found in rural areas in greater quantities than in cities, researchers say. The study, led by the University of Leeds, detected up to 500 microscopic particles of plastic per square metre per day in an area of woodland during the three-month study – almost twice as much as in a sample...

Tropical forests can recover twice as quickly after deforestation if they have adequate soil nitrogen, according to new research published today. A team of scientists led by the University of Leeds established the world’s largest and longest experiment to see how nutrients affect forest regrowth in areas cleared for activities such as logging and agriculture....

A new study from the University of Leeds highlights consistently low levels of access to trees and greenspaces across English cities.   Researchers analysed the 3-30-300 rule, a three part framework for measuring tree and greenspace access, in urban neighbourhoods of Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, York, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent and Plymouth, and found that at most, only 2% of buildings in any city region met all three components of the rule.   This research, published in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening,...

A University of Leeds and Woodland Trust collaboration has revealed major natural flood management benefits at catchment scale from upland woodland creation. Creating new woodland in upland areas can significantly reduce the severity of downstream flooding, according to new research led by the University of Leeds in partnership with the Woodland Trust. The study, published...

University of Leeds researchers hosted Katie White, Minister for Climate, at Park Gill Nature Reserve in the Yorkshire Dales last month, where they are investigating the potential for, and impacts of, temperate rainforest restoration.  Katie White has been the MP for Leeds North West since July 2024, and was  appointed Minister for Climate in the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero in September 2025. The Minister’s visit to the Park Gill Nature Reserve...

  A new interactive map reveals how deforestation is driving dangerous local warming across the tropics — with implications for health, agriculture, and climate resilience. Tropical forests are often called the lungs of the Earth, but they’re also its air conditioners. When trees are cut down, the cooling benefits they provide – through shade and...

  Research from Restoring Hardknott Forest and Wild Ingleborough has contributed to a new paper summarising the current knowledge of creating woodland through natural processes in Great Britain. The synthesis was part of the TreE_PlaNat project and combined the expertise of 31 practitioners and researchers to compile 15 case studies where woodland has been created...

Planting trees on a large scale in the UK, as part of pathways to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, could bring substantial changes to biological emissions from our woodlands, but the scale of change and the compounds emitted varies with tree species planted. New woodlands play a key role in proposed pathways to achieving net-zero...

Trees in Amazon forests have got 'fatter' with average size increasing by 3.2% every decade, consistent with a response to rising carbon dioxide levels, a new study suggests. The new research published in Nature Plants by a global team of tropical forest scientists shows that the average size of trees in Amazon forests has increased over recent...