The UK’s orchards steeped in centuries of tradition, culture, and culinary delight face a pivotal moment. Once abundant and ecologically rich, these landscapes are now under pressure from climate change, financial instability, and dwindling biodiversity. Apples, pears, plums, and other orchard fruits remain essential to the nation’s health and heritage, yet the UK is currently only 17% self-sufficient in total fruit production. Despite favorable growing conditions, reliance on imports and declining orchard acreage threaten both our tables and the wider environment.
Compounding the issue, only a quarter of the population consumes the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables daily, highlighting an urgent public health concern. Meanwhile, economic pressures are driving farmers to remove orchards, and a lack of coordinated policy support leaves the sector underprepared for climate-induced stress, water scarcity, and ecological degradation. The narrative around orchard resilience is fragmented, often siloed, and falls short of addressing the interconnected challenges that the industry faces.
Enter Forum for the Future, which is spearheading a collaborative action-research project from June 2024 through the end of 2025, aiming to reimagine a regenerative and climate-resilient future for the UK orchard sector. The initiative brings together orchard growers, policymakers, industry leaders, civil society actors, public health experts, and market stakeholders to share knowledge, build ambition, and co-create practical solutions.
At the heart of the project is a commitment to collaboration over isolation. Together, participants explore critical questions: How can the UK orchard fruit sector thrive in the face of environmental and economic pressures? What strategies are needed to scale regenerative farming practices and ensure fair livelihoods for growers and workers? And how can the industry simultaneously enhance public access to healthy diets while restoring biodiversity across orchard landscapes?
The project’s approach is both systematic and inspiring. Early mapping exercises identified barriers, trends, and opportunities for regenerative practices. Over the coming months, the initiative will showcase innovative farming techniques, share compelling stories of change, and develop actionable recommendations for industry, policymakers, and civil society. By building capacity, fostering partnerships, and highlighting scalable solutions, the project seeks to catalyze a sector-wide transformation that benefits people, nature, and the economy.
As the UK looks to secure its orchard legacy, the collaborative effort underscores a vital truth: the future of fruit is not just about production it’s about resilience, regeneration, and shared responsibility. Through cooperative action and innovation, the nation’s orchards can continue to flourish, offering healthy food, ecological richness, and cultural heritage for generations to come.