Cornwall Council’s flagship climate emergency project the Forest for Cornwall will be officially launched next week at a community planting day in Saltash.

The first 105 trees of the programme to cover 8,000 hectares of land across Cornwall with woodland, forest and other canopy cover will be planted on council-owned community open space.

The ambitious scheme is a key part of Cornwall Council’s plans to help Cornwall become carbon neutral by 2030.

Once completed, the programme aims to extend canopy cover over an additional 2% of Cornwall’s total land area and capture 1% of Cornwall’s current greenhouse gas emissions.

‘Over the next decade we want to transform the landscapes of our countryside, towns and villages with a mosaic of woodland, forests, copses, orchards, hedgerows and street trees which will not only absorb carbon but enhance our residents’ living and community spaces and improve air quality,’ said Cllr Edwina Hannaford, the portfolio holder for climate change and neighbourhoods.

‘While we are acting faster than the Government and other local authorities in putting our plans to tackle climate change into action, we now need all our residents’ help in driving this vital project forward.

‘We want to put the right tree in the right place and as a facilitator we will be matching residents, businesses, community groups and charities to trees, land, funds and volunteers who want to get involved in planting so we can create a “tree match-making service” to harness everyone’s goodwill in contributing to the Forest for Cornwall.’