Today, the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew published its latest report, revealing that over half of the 11,000 trees currently found at the 320-acre Gardens in London, could be at risk.

Prompted by the 2022 drought, which resulted in the loss of over 400 trees at Kew Gardens (compared to the average 30 trees lost annually), ‘Planting for the Future: Kew’s Landscape Succession Plans’ determines the species best suited to protecting the UK landscapes against the climate crisis.

RBG Kew says it “hopes the report will act as a blueprint” for green spaces, while also prompting the horticulture industry and urban planners to “recognise concerns around an exclusive focus on native species.”

Despite Planting for the Future being the first succession plan to be created by a botanic garden in the UK, Kew believes there is an “urgent need for succession planning nationally”.

Since 1884, the UK’s 10 warmest years have occurred in the 21st century, with London’s climate predicted to reach that of present-day Barcelona’s by 2050, threatening national landscapes, ecosystems and species.

Some of the UK’s most recognised species such as oak, beech and holly are all at risk, while all of Kew’s ‘Old Lions’ (five of the oldest trees in the Gardens) are expected to survive even in the “worst-case climate scenario”.

The Lions were planted in the mid-1700s when Princess Augusta created a nine-acre botanic garden at Kew – none of them are native to British soils.

Tom Freeth, head of living collection support at RBG Kew, hopes the report will influence future planting decisions across the nation.

“Fundamentally, we want to raise awareness of what we’re likely to experience over the next 100 years, which will be profoundly different to what we have experienced in the past and showcase some of the steps we can take to address a rapidly changing climate.”

In March this year, Kew also released its report predicting the risk of every known flowering plant, totalling 328,565 species, through the help of artificial intelligence.