Greening the deserts
£200 million call for more urban planting, as the Trust targets neighbourhoods in desperate need of trees
DO YOU LIVE in a tree desert? More than one in five of England’s urban dwellers – 11 million people – are enduring life with less than 10% tree cover, according to a hard-hitting Woodland Trust report being delivered to government this summer. The dossier highlights the huge gulf between richer areas like Hampstead in London, which is 40% leafy, and poorer ones like Hartlepool, at just 2%. It demands a £200 million tree planting drive to address inequities which contribute to air pollution, flooding and ill-health.
The report lands as we ramp up our biggest ever programme to green the UK’s towns and cities – Trees For All. This will see us invest £10 million over the next five years, targeting 10,765 districts that score lowest on our pioneering tree equity map – you can check whether your own area is missing out by entering your postcode.
“This is not just about making people feel good. It’s a real injustice, and it could be affecting your quality of life.”
Darren Moorcroft, chief executive, Woodland Trust
“This is not just about making people feel good,” says the Trust’s chief executive Darren Moorcroft. “It’s a real injustice, and it could be affecting your quality of life. We know that neighbourhoods rich in trees cope better with climate change impacts like flooding and extreme summer heat. And the more trees there are in your area, the better your physical and mental health are likely to be.”
Our report calls for urban areas in direst need to get 20% of the £1 billion that government has pledged for tree planting by 2030. It says trees should be designed into new developments and retro-fitted in public spaces like hospitals and schools, with grassroots groups empowered to deliver their own planting schemes.
Neighbourhoods with low tree canopy being targeted by the Trust’s Trees For All project.
Government investment needed to make these places greener – 20% of the planting budget to 2030.
The number of free trees the Trust aims to send annually to schools and community groups.
Meanwhile, we’re getting on with the job. Our Trees For All masterplan will fire up seven flagship projects across every UK country and region, with the likes of Hartlepool, Ilford, Wrexham and East Belfast in our sights. We also want to increase the haul of free trees we send out annually to community groups from 1.1 million to 1.4 million, with at least 20% of them going to those districts with the lowest tree equity scores.
One initiative already underway is Treescapism, banging the drum for much-needed street trees in Splott, in inner-city Cardiff. Through art workshops and school sessions (pictured), locals have compiled a powerful multi–media exhibition demanding change. “It’s on from June 26-27, and we’re inviting city councillors and Senedd members,” says the Trust’s Jacinta Challinor. “Trust members are very welcome too.”
LIST OUR LEGENDS!
Could Northern Ireland become the first UK country to give listed status to heritage trees?
A BID TO WIN iron-clad legal protection for old and historic trees is heading for the Northern Ireland Assembly, raising hopes the country will become the first in the UK to grant listed status to these ‘living legends’. A private members’ bill supported by the Woodland Trust calls for a new register of heritage trees, guarded by beefed-up Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) which require landowners to seek consent for work carried out on them and make them liable if they are damaged.
Our Northern Ireland director John Martin says the Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory could be a starting point for a new register. It contains 2,000 special trees there, verified by our volunteers and including Belfast’s Belvoir Oak (pictured), thought to be the country’s oldest.
“If it’s successful this bill will be a game-changer,” says John, “and we hope for a first reading at Stormont this year.”
Over 100,000 people have supported the Trust’s Living Legends campaign, demanding a legal listing for culturally important trees UK-wide. John says a live threat at Tullynagardy, in Newtownards, drives home the urgent need for change. There, we are fighting plans to build houses in a 200-year-old wood protected by a TPO, home to bluebells, badgers and bats.
