About us
How we are funded
Our work is funded by our dedicated members and supporters, gifts in wills, grants, trusts and partners. Here we outline what we raised in the last financial period and breakdown where it came from.
Our trustees
We, like every other UK charity, are governed by a group of trustees who make up the Board. Trustees are required to retire every four years and may offer themselves for reappointment for a further period of four years.
Lord Tony Hall – Chair
Tony Hall is chairman of the social work charity Frontline, the City Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) and the film company Harder Than You Think Ltd. He is chair of the Natural History Museum, and a trustee of the National Trust, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also former chairman of the National Gallery and former president of the European Broadcasting Union, championing public service media across the world.
Tony is former director-general of the BBC (2013–2020) overseeing all the BBC’s services across the UK and around the world, both public service and commercial. Tony first joined the BBC as a news trainee in 1973 and, as director of news and current affairs, launched many of the BBC's most popular digital services, including BBC News Online, the rolling news channel, BBC Parliament and Radio 5 Live.
From 2001 to 2013, Tony was chief executive of the Royal Opera House, bringing financial stability, supporting new artists and developing new audiences. He introduced the first live cinema screenings around the UK, low-price ticket schemes and a thriving new production park in Thurrock.
Tony was a non-executive board member for Channel 4 Television and was later appointed deputy chair of Channel 4 in 2012. In 2004, Tony was appointed inaugural chair of the industry-led creative and cultural skills, introducing the first formal creative apprenticeships as well as new online careers guidance for emerging talent. In 2009, he joined the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and was appointed chair of the Cultural Olympiad Board.
Tony was awarded a CBE in 2006, the Pierre de Coubertin medal in 2023 for outstanding service to the Olympic Movement, and was made a life peer in 2010. Tony sits on the crossbenches in the House of Lords and is an honorary fellow of Keble College, Oxford.
Andy Bryant
Andy is managing director of Red Bee Creative, a London-based, globally acclaimed creative agency specialising in media brand strategy, identity and promotion. He has over 30 years of experience in advertising, marketing, broadcasting and strategic consultancy, both in the UK and Australia and is an honorary professor in film and media at the University of Nottingham.
Andy has been involved in communications, advertising and design for brands including Discovery Networks, NBCUniversal, Netflix, the BBC and Disney, as well as non-media brands like Barclays, Nissan and Hyundai and charities including BBC Children in Need, Comic Relief, Soccer Aid for Unicef and the National Deaf Children’s Society.
Andy joined the board in September 2020.
Fay Cooke
Fay is the chief impact and financial officer at Yeo Valley Production Ltd where she leads the company’s finance, people, technology and quality teams. She has a PhD in zoology and is passionate about the environment, climate change and animal welfare. Her particular interests include sustainable food policy, regenerative organic farming and holistic decision making.
Fay joined the board in December 2018.
Stuart Green
After nearly three decades in a variety of senior roles around user experience, software engineering and product design with American Express, Stuart joined Google in 2020. He is currently director of user experience, where he leads a team dedicated to enhancing user interactions and experiences across Google's vast array of products and services. He has over 30 years of professional experience in leading and transforming large organisations, with significant expertise in user experience, data governance, customer service, technology development, information systems and business management.
Throughout Stuart's career he's been an advocate for people with disabilities and neurodivergent needs, and is the executive sponsor for the Disability Alliance for Google UK. He is a founding member of the Accessibility Discovery Centre in King's Cross, which provides an immersive experience for local charities and companies to understand accessibility needs and incorporate them into their organisations.
An active private ancient woodland owner and committee member of Sussex & Surrey Coppice Group, Stuart is also an angel investor with South East Angels, investing in startups that improve wellbeing, tackle climate change and increase biodiversity and sustainability. He has a BSc in Software Engineering from the University of Brighton, and an MSc in International Management from the University of Sussex.
Stuart joined the board in June 2025.
Prof David Hill CBE, DL
David is founder and president of the Foundation for Nature, the first Ratings Agency for nature restoration programmes and projects aimed at driving increased private investment into the natural environment. He established one of the first environmental consultancies in the UK in 1992, which he merged with a plc in 2002. David founded the Environment Bank in 2006.
David was previously deputy chair of Natural England, the government's statutory advisers on nature conservation, board member of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, a member of the government's Ecosystem Markets Task Force, chair of Plantlife International and chair of the Northern Uplands Nature Partnership. He has published extensively on ecological issues and is a fellow and past president of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.
He is currently a board member of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, a commissioner with the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, co-founder of the NatureSpace Partnership Ltd that creates habitat for protected species, and chair of Curlew Action. David is passionate about nature conservation and an avid wildlife photographer. For his services to nature conservation and the economy, he was awarded a CBE in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours. His interests and work on promoting the importance of nature finance and the role of environmental markets, backed by his extensive experience in the land-based sectors, is changing the shape and pace of nature restoration.
David joined the board in March 2025.
Dr Julia Knights
A soil and climate scientist, Julia’s career spans over 20 years in biodiversity, conservation and climate change – including in the Senior Civil Service, where she led a team of climate scientists and statisticians to provide the science underpinning the UK's Net Zero by 2050 legislation. Julia also spent 12 years as a diplomat in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, leading science teams in East China, Russia and South America. In Brazil, Julia led a £150 million UK-Brazil fund for research including identifying new plant species in the Amazon and Atlantic rainforests.
Passionate about trees, plants and fungi, Julia is a Chartered Horticulturalist, a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, and a trustee of Plantlife International. Julia sits on the Royal Society's Public Engagement Committee and is editor of ecology and conservation for Panorama: Journal of Travel, Place and Nature.
Julia joined the board in June 2023.
Briony Nesbitt
Briony’s deeply rooted connection with nature led her to the Woodland Trust. After growing up amongst stunning Cornish landscapes, Briony pursued a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Marine and Fresh Water Ecology, which took her from Cape Verde to South Africa’s Kruger National Park. Briony is also an advocate for the incredible wildlife on our doorstep, as well as the importance of working with communities and young people to engage them in the protection and preservation of the UK’s wildlife.
Believing that everyone should have the opportunity to connect with and explore nature, Briony is a firm advocate for inclusive access to woodlands, and as a trustee, hopes to bring a unique blend of experience in conservation, community development and youth empowerment to the Woodland Trust - ensuring that woods remain accessible to all, protected and cherished.
Briony joined the board in June 2023.
James Ogilvie
A chartered forester, James’ forestry career spans forty years – most recently leading social policy in Forestry Commission Scotland (including communities, access, recreation and health).
A director of Borders Forest Trust and a Tree Aid business ambassador, James is fortunate to manage a small, award-winning woodland in Northumberland. His books include Heritage Trees of Scotland, and A Brief History of the Forestry Commission.
James joined the board in September 2018.
Carole Pomfret
Carole is vice chair of PDSA (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals) where she has been involved since 2014, as well as being their chair of the finance and investment committee, safeguarding trustee, and a member of the governance and remuneration committee. Her other substantial charity work includes being chair of trustees at Monks Walk School in Welwyn Garden City and vice chair at St Albans School.
After gaining a degree in physics from Oxford, Carole qualified as a chartered accountant with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co (now KPMG), before joining Schroders. She initially led the development of accounting systems for the investment management company before moving on to manage private client investment portfolios. She left Schroders as an investment director of Schroders Private Bank before moving to Rathbones as an investment consultant.
Carole joined the board in June 2025.
David Saddington
David is the deputy head of the UK Government International Forest Unit and led the nature campaign for COP26, which resulted in 145 world leaders committing to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, pledging over $12 billion in finance, and committing to tackling the largest drivers of deforestation such as commodity production and trade. He now works to ensure these ambitions are delivered.
This role continues David’s decade-long work leading efforts within governments and businesses to establish and deliver Net Zero ambitions. As a teenage campaigner, he persuaded the Prime Minister to put climate change on the UK school curriculum and has since led global efforts to engage the public via TED talks, innovative events and media campaigns.
David is also a trustee for Nile Rodgers’ We Are Family Foundation, supporting game-changing youth innovators to amplify their impact, and is also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
David joined the board in June 2023.
Amber Thiara
Amber started out as a mechanical engineer for Rolls-Royce before her love of sports spurred her to become a journalist at BBC Sport. Her passion for entertainment and creating content for younger audiences led her to manage social media for The One Show and go on to become the deputy head of social for BBC Three. She has now returned to the world of live sports as senior producer for Sky Sports social media.
Amber has always had a huge appreciation for the outdoors and valued the importance of trees and nature, especially their links to mental health and wellbeing. She is passionate about giving a voice to the young and underrepresented and empowering them to help change the world around them.
Amber joined the board in June 2023.
Marina Wyatt
Until recently Marina was chief financial officer and an executive director of the board of Associated British Ports (ABP), a company which owns 21 ports around the UK and is a large landowner, landlord and operator. Marina chaired the audit committee of recycling company Renewi PLC from 2013 to 2022 and was appointed in 2023 as chair of the audit and risk committee at Lloyd’s Register Group, and as a trustee and chair of the audit, risk and investment committee at the Lloyd's Register Foundation, its parent company and global safety charity.
A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, with a geography degree from Cambridge University, Marina has more than 25 years of experience in senior finance leadership roles in both listed and private companies as chief financial officer of ABP, UBM Plc, TomTom NV, Colt Telecom Plc and Psion Plc.
Marina joined the board in March 2025.
Chris Zissis
Chris is a chief information officer and chief technology officer with extensive experience across technology, data, digital and transformation. He has a solid track record of global to local delivery at scale in professional services, financial services, capital markets and real estate services across the globe, and takes a keen interest in sustainability – particularly the role that technology can help play in achieving this.
Chris currently holds the position of global head of technology and chief technology officer at Nuveen Real Estate and Real Assets.
Chris joined the board in June 2020.
