By Joshua Robinson – 

Over 1.9 million trees were planted across the Northern Forest last year, enough to fill more than 1200 football pitches.

Nearly 8 million new trees have been established across cities, towns, and countryside since the Northern Forest project kicked off.

A new map of the plantings shows the scale of the scheme which has seen more than 87000 people in the most deprived areas now within 500 metres of woodland.

Nick Sellwood who leads the Woodland Trust’s Northern Forest team said, whilst celebrating the achievements of the project so far, there is much work to do.

He said: “It was a very ambitious vision when we began the Northern Forest but what has been achieved for communities across the north, by bringing multiple agencies together, is nothing short of remarkable, with delivery increasing year on year, with this season being a bumper year and there is much more still to do.”

“There are now thousands more trees in cities, in the countryside – and in more inhospitable places high up in the Pennines.”

Mr Sellwood added: “More new woodlands bring huge benefits to people – not just in terms of well being, but in jobs and a boost to businesses and the economy through the likes of improving air quality, reducing flooding and creating green jobs.”

“With more trees desperately needed across the UK to fight the ever-growing threat of climate change, we hope that the Northern Forest could inspire similar transformative projects in other parts of the country.”

The project started in 2018 when the Woodland Trust joined with a host of Community Forests, The Mersey Forest, City of Trees (Greater Manchester), Humber Forest, White Rose Forest, and Community Forest Trust, to establish 50 million trees over 25 years from Liverpool to Hull in an area with just 7.6 percent tree cover (compared to the national average of 13 percent).

A report by Liverpool John Moores University and commissioned by Northern Forest partners showed that millions of new trees have brought a £43 million boost per year for those living in the Northern Forest, and 300,000 extra households are now less than 10 minutes walk away from publicly accessible woodland, roughly the size of Leeds. Studies have shown that access to trees is directly linked to better health outcomes. Meanwhile, thousands of tonnes of carbon have been locked up with multi-million pounds annual uplift from the natural benefits.

Paul Nolan, Director of The Mersey Forest and Chair of England’s Community Forests, said: “We’re committed to working together as organisations and with our communities, businesses and landowners to increase tree coverage across the north of England. Ensuring everyone has access to woodland and green space is vital for our communities’ wellbeing and trees will play an ever more important role as we adapt to a changing climate. We look forward to working with Defra and our partners to deliver more woodlands and greenspaces that will boost biodiversity, enhance our local economies and provide vital shade and cooling in our towns and cities.”

The Northern Forest Partnership has benefited from Defra funding, with the Northern Forest Grow Back Greener and Trees for Climate programmes leading the charge.

The work of the Northern Forest is also part of a wider success for all tree planting in England over the past year, the last planting season saw tree planting rates increase by 52% from the previous year with 5,529 hectares of new woodland planted.

This marks significant progress towards meeting the Environment Act target of achieving 16.5% tree and woodland cover in England by 2050.

Some of the Success Stories This Year:

Woodland Trust – Frodsham Woods, Runcorn:

30,000 trees will have been planted at Frodsham Woods with a further 10,000 trees being encouraged to ‘spring up naturally’ with seed from neighbouring ancient woodland. In the last year, there have been over 50 planting this planting sessions, involving 2500 volunteers and 800 children from local schools.

White Rose Forest – in Kirklees:

Kirklees Council, with support from the White Rose Forest, planted almost 15 hectares of woodland across 11 Council-owned sites during the 2023/24 planting season. Almost 1000 volunteers helped with the planting, including council staff, local environment groups, and schools. The new woodlands will benefit both communities and the environment, from improving biodiversity and natural flood management to providing new recreation opportunities for residents.

Mersey Forest – Eastham Country Park:

The Mersey Forest has worked closely with councils across Cheshire and Merseyside to introduce more trees in parks and greenspaces in the area. Volunteers from the local community joined officers from Wirralthe  Council and The Mersey Forest to plant over 2,700 trees at Eastham Country Park, which sits on the banks of the River Mersey. The new planting will help to extend the ancient semi-natural woodland, making it more resilient to hazards such as storms and emerging pests and diseases, as well as increasing habitat for local wildlife and capturing carbon.

Humber Forest – Dent Road, Cottingham:

Hull City Council wanted to create a small woodland for the community to enjoy and to encourage wildlife. With funding from the Northern Forest Grow Back Greener programme, Humber Forest delivery partner Rewilding Youth held a community day, planting 576 trees and running nature-based activities to connect local people to the space.

City of Trees – Onward Homes:

City of Trees, the community forest for Greater Manchester, worked with social housing provider, Onward Homes, to plant woodlands at three of their sites in Tameside and Bolton. Together, with customers of Onward Homes, 540 whips were planted. In addition, 132 standard trees were planted across 20 locations to enhance the green spaces for those who live there.

Joanne Danaher, Director of Housing and Home Ownership, said: “Our team of tree specialists worked closely with City of Trees and customers to improve local spaces and provide a thriving environment for new trees. This involved working together to check planting locations and selecting native species that will establish new habitats for wildlife, have low maintenance costs and create a more attractive, greener environment.”

“It was great to see the difference this has made, with our colleagues and customers coming together to improve local spaces.”

More on the Northern Forest here: https://thenorthernforest.org.uk/

We appreciate your support, it really is invaluable, please share the article, and make sure to join the KLTV WhatsApp Community today!