Defra: Barriers to tree planting and woodland creation among farmers

Defra was launching a new tree planting scheme, the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) and needed to understand farmers’ awareness and responses to the scheme, as well as the broader context of their attitudes towards tree planting.

Through secondary, qualitative and quantitative research, we used the COM-B model to build a sophisticated, holistic model of the factors influencing tree planting activity on farms in England:

• We analysed responses to Defra’s England Tree Strategy consultation, to understand the views of the public and key stakeholders towards Defra’s proposed policy priorities.

• We conducted foundational qualitative research with 40 farmers and land managers to explore previous experiences of tree planting, awareness of the current funding landscape and views on the value of woodland creation.

• We tested draft versions of the campaign – identifying the strongest territories for the campaign and exploring the strengths and weaknesses of different creative routes.

• We tracked farmers’ knowledge of and engagement with EWCO, campaign recall, barriers and motivations surrounding woodland creation, and confidence in tree planting. The quantitative tracker, which surveyed 200-500 farmers each wave, was complemented by qualitative interviews with 36 farmers.

Defra has used the research to inform its communications strategy: our insights have allowed them to align campaign messaging with farmers’ existing motivations, and address perceived barriers.