Tree planting across our borough: an overview
Over the coming years, we've set out to plant many more trees across the borough to increase the amount of carbon dioxide which they draw from the atmosphere.
This will support our climate emergency response because carbon dioxide is a "greenhouse gas" that contributes to rising global temperatures.
Our tree project is supported by The Woodland Trust, through which we have secured £300,000 funding towards the planting of new trees as part of their Emergency Tree Fund.
By the end of March 2023, more than 40,000 trees had been planted on smaller-scale sites in the borough which are contributing towards this goal.
This is a fantastic achievement and we thank everyone involved in making this happen, including local schools, Freely Fruity, volunteer and community groups, our town and parish councils and The Woodland Trust.
Our next step is to plant on a smaller number of large-scale sites across the borough, and we'll share more information about these as they come forward.
Phases
Project set-up
In 2020 WBC published the Climate Emergency Action Plan, outlining plans to plant 250,000 trees in order to increase carbon sequestration rates and contribute to the boroughs 2030 net-zero carbon target.
In May 2021 the Woodland Trust agreed to support WBC with the tree planting target by providing funding as part of the Emergency Tree Grant.
In July 2021 The Business Case for the project was presented to The Executive and approval was given to begin Phase 1. This will include a Feasibility Study, development of a Tree Strategy, a Garden Forest scheme and planting on small scale sites.
A project manager has been recruited and has started scoping sites and opportunities across the borough.