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I don't want to see more tree planting, except in places a long way from natural seed sources. I want to see natural regeneration permitted: trees and shrubs recolonising trashed land by themselves. theguardian.com/environment/20…
Planting is a highly inefficient, expensive and ugly way of bringing back trees. It litters the countryside with plastic tree guards (many of which are never collected). It can introduce diseases, as seedlings are shifted between countries. It creates bland, homogenous woodlands.
The problem is that woodland creation for ecological purposes is still governed by a forester's perspective: trees should be straight and regular, of the same age class, preferably planted in rows and branching as little as possible.
To create richer habitats, we need a completely different approach: trees should be left to do their own thing. If they sprawl or lean, that's a good thing. If they grow at different paces and in various patterns, that's a good thing. What's bad for forestry is good for nature.
One of the richest habitats of all is scrub: which means naturally-regenerating woodland. But scrub is almost a dirty word among land managers, including some conservation groups, which organise "scrub-bashing" days, then plant trees in plastic guards. Madness.
As for planting trees in existing woods - why would anyone but a forester do it? They'll come back by themselves very quickly. Oh wait - because that's what you get grants for. A disastrous misallocation of public funds.
Another advantage of natural regneration is that you don't break the soil. Soil churning for tree planting releases carbon and can create acid flushes into nearby rivers.
Vascular plants have been colonising land for over 300m years, without human help. Why do we assume they can't do it without us?
Let's demand an end to plastic tree guards, for any purpose but commercial or ornamental forestry (and question whether they are always necessary even for those uses). They should have no place in conservation or rewilding.
Tree guards are one of the most effective means of dispersing plastic around the countryside. In some places, unretrieved guards are by far the biggest source of plastic pollution. So much for improving the living world!
Here's a highly effective, plastic-free tree guard. Stops the roe deer from eating your saplings. Nature's forester. 
Another plastic-free tree guard. The most effective known deterrent to grey squirrels
