It is ironic that it took the destruction of a 150-year-old tree to reveal just how profoundly important trees and woods are to us. The loss of the Sycamore Gap tree from Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland in September 2023 triggered profound sadness and anger across the nation. For the Woodland Trust, the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, it was a day that vindicated its remit.
‘The fact is that Hadrian’s Wall has legal protection but the tree did not, even though it had witnessed so much history,’ says Alka Ahuja FCCA, the trust’s CFO. ‘That awful event gave a lot of momentum to our work.’
‘England has the lowest tree canopy cover in the whole of Europe’
In the year since the felling, the trust has gathered more than 100,000 signatures for its Living Legends campaign for legal protection for the country’s oldest trees. A private members’ bill was introduced in Stormont in July 2024 to protect Northern Ireland’s trees, and it is hoped that a similar bill introduced in the House of Lords in December 2023 but halted by the general election will be revived.
Mighty roots
The Woodland Trust has 250,000 registered members, and its income – the bulk of which comes from donors and supporters – in the 2023/24 financial year reached £84.2m. It owns 33,000 hectares of woodland and looks after more than 1,000 woods across the UK. It has planted more than 68 million trees since it was established in 1972, and its objective is to increase the UK’s woodland cover from the current 13% to 19% by 2050 (the EU average is 37%).
‘In the last 150 years, half of our large and ancient trees have been lost from England,’ says Ahuja. ‘We have the lowest tree canopy cover in the whole of Europe.’
The Woodland Trust emphasises the vital importance of trees to the health of the planet, to landscape resilience, and to our health and wellbeing. A recent innovation (in cooperation with American Forests and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare) is its Tree Equity Score tool, which assesses the tree canopy cover in urban neighbourhoods and highlights the link between lack of green space and social deprivation.
‘We raise our voice, but never in a belligerent way’
The trust is by necessity highly active politically, but in its own unique way. ‘We invest a lot of effort into lobbying and advocacy,’ Ahuja says. ‘We raise our voice, but never in a belligerent way. Our board and staff have worked hard to take our voice to Westminster.’
It has been a very effective approach, although the scale of the challenge is huge. The first phase of the HS2 railway development, for example, initially threatened 108 ancient woods (only 2.4% of the UK is covered by ancient woodland). The trust described the impact of HS2 on ancient woods and trees as ‘wholly unacceptable’, and its influence helped persuade MPs to support a tunnel through the Chilterns, which saved over nine hectares of ancient woodland.
On a local level, the trust has secured the introduction of street tree consultations, which means councils have a duty to consult the public on street tree removal. It advises councils across the country on tree planting as part of their climate crisis response.
Non-profit commitment
Ahuja was approached to join the trust in 2023, while she was FD for the Malaria Consortium. ‘The trust wasn’t on my radar at all, but I was doing a lot of travelling for work and that made me realise that climate change and loss of natural habitat were contributing to a lot of the world’s problems.’
She has dedicated most of her career to the non-profit sector. After completing an MBA and building a career in management with the State Bank of India, she moved to the UK with her husband and young family in 1999. She volunteered at her local Oxfam shop, where her finance skills were quickly spotted and co-opted.
Within seven years, she was global finance coordinator in the organisation’s humanitarian department (which had annual income of £65m at the time) and on her way to ACCA membership. ‘I love the satisfaction that you get working for a not-for-profit,’ she says. ‘You can use your work to make a real difference.’
‘The level of public support is indicative of the trust’s kind and inclusive approach’
Her remit at the Woodland Trust is huge, covering the legal, governance, health and safety, internal audit, risk and digital functions, as well as finance and strategic planning. ‘That was something that really attracted me to the role, although not all of it was planned,’ she says.
Shortly after she joined, the chief information officer moved on and Ahuja took over the critical task of restoring the trust’s customer relationship management (CRM) systems and governance procedures, which had been hit by a massive cyber-attack late in 2020. ‘The IT systems had to be disconnected and almost everything was lost overnight – no systems, no processes, no data,’ she says. ‘All that was left was what people had on their laptops.’
Replacing the heavily patched system with a new CRM system has been critical, she says. ‘We are fortunate in that about 60% of our income is unrestricted, but that also means it’s essential for our fundraising team to be able to engage with our supporters and members effectively.’
‘For me, the finance function has always been the engine of the business’
Ethical appeal
The level of donations and public support the trust receives, she adds, is indicative of its kind and inclusive approach. Entry to its woodlands and other land is always free, and it does not run ticketed events. Almost a third of the trust’s income comes from legacies, while donations account for 26%, memberships 16% and trading just 4%.
‘People can see that we’re not trying to make money at every point,’ Ahuja points out. ‘It’s a very committed and ethically driven organisation that is trusted by its members and supporters, and it is very professionally run. I would encourage people to visit their local Woodland Trust wood and consider becoming a member or supporter.’
A strong finance function and governance systems are central to the organisation’s approach, she says. ‘It’s very satisfying, and very motivating to be a real business partner and make sure the organisation is financially resilient. For many people, finance is a support function, but for me, it has always been the engine of the business.’
CV
2023 to date
CFO and company secretary, Woodland Trust
2009–2023
Finance and operations director and other senior roles with Salvation Army Social Work Trust, Tropical Health and Education Trust, Sapien Capital, Transparency International UK, and Malaria Consortium
2000–2009
Various roles with Oxfam and Save the Children
