🌳 Welcome to OAKTOBER:
a month-long campaign to save Britain's Oak Trees

Oaks are woven into Britain’s culture and countryside. But today, this wildlife powerhouse, and the thousand's of species it supports, is under threat from climate change, pests, disease and land use change.
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OAKTOBER 2025

Wildlife Super-Host

One oak is like a living apartment block: home to 2,300 species, with over 300 depending solely on oaks. Lose the oak, and you lose them too.
Birds you know: Great tits, blue tits, woodpeckers, tawny owls.
Mammals you see: Red squirrels, jays, deer thrive on acorns.
Insects & pollinators: Stag beetles, butterflies, bees.
Fungi & lichens: Hundreds cling to bark and roots, fueling the web of life.

Threats from Climate Change

Hotter summers, shifting seasons and new pests are creating a perfect storm for British oaks. Once symbols of endurance, many are now under stress.

  • Rising temperatures and drought weaken oaks, reducing their natural defences against infection and decay.

  • Extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods and strong winds damage roots and branches, making recovery harder.

  • Milder winters allow pests like the oak processionary moth and bacteria linked to Acute Oak Decline to survive and spread more easily.

  • Tree imports add to the risk: between 2013 and 2015, more than 1.1 million oaks were brought into the UK, increasing the chance of introducing new diseases.

These pressures don’t act alone. Climate stress interacts with how land is used. For example, when woodlands are cleared, built on or split apart to make room for buildings or roads, oaks lose the healthy soil and wildlife networks that help them withstand drought and disease.

Why it matters

The UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries, with only about 50% of its biodiversity remaining - placing it among the bottom 10% globally. One in six species faces extinction. Without oaks, collapse accelerates.

Oaks aren’t just for wildlife, they cool cities, clean air, and lock up carbon, among other vital functions. Losing them is like the internet crashing: invisible until everything stops working.

"People love trees and nature but most of us have no idea of the critical role the oak tree plays in maintaining the world as we know it -- and British culture in particular.  By speaking science through comedy, we reach a whole new audience," says Gail Whiteman, the Hoffmann Impact Professor for Accelerating Action on Nature and Climate.
C.S. Lewis

Reasons for Hope

Oaks are genetically resilient. Ancient trees hold centuries of survival secrets. Scientists are planting seeds from warmer climates to future-proof our forests. When we act, nature bounces back.

Drivers of biodiversity loss

The science says nature is under threat from five main pressures: invasive species, climate change, changes in land use, pollution, and overuse of natural resources.

For oak trees, three stand out. Pests and diseases can weaken or kill them. Climate change brings heat, storms, and sudden weather shifts that make recovery harder. And when woodlands are cleared or broken up, oaks lose the soil and wildlife connections that help them thrive.

Pollution and overuse add to the strain, creating tough conditions for trees that have stood strong for centuries — and now need our care to survive.

🍂 Get Involved This October

See one. Learn one. Care for one. Protecting oaks protects thousands of species—and our own future.
🌍 Spot it

Add your local oak to the Ancient Tree Inventory.

🌱 Grow it

Collect acorns and raise saplings for community planting. It's Seed Gathering Season.

🛡️ Support it

Back Action Oak’s research and protection.

📣 Share it

Tell your oak story with #Oaktober.

Collaborators

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