The urban forest of Birmingham has an estimated public amenity asset value of £25.3 billion according to the CAVAT Adjusted Quick Method valuation, which takes into account the size, accessibility and health of trees as well as any species-specific attributes contributing to public amenity value. English Oak had the highest amenity value of any single species in Birmingham, contributing 15.7% of the urban forest’s amenity value. The next largest contributors were Sycamore, followed by Beech. Combined, these three species represent 32.3% of the total amenity value for Birmingham. It is not particularly surprising that the most common and largest stature tree species have higher CAVAT value. A combination of greater size, condition, and longevity in species leads to higher CAVAT values.
The single most valuable tree encountered in the study was a 15.2m high, 1.03m DBH London Plane in excellent condition growing next to a main road in the city centre; it was estimated to have an amenity value of £307,000.
The land use type containing the highest amenity value of trees was ‘Residential’, with 32% of the total value of the trees, and an estimated value of £6.31 billion when extrapolated for the whole of Birmingham. ‘Park’ and ‘Transportation’ were the next most important land-uses, contributing 31.5% and 14.8% to the total amenity value respectively.
CAVAT is a vital metric for valuing trees; it gives an indication of the whole value of the tree, not just the cost of purchase, planting, or management. It is a very different value than replacement cost as it shows how much trees mean to the people and communities who interact with them.
