Laura Sharman 29 November 2021

Funding allocated to plant hundreds of thousands of trees

Funding allocated to plant hundreds of thousands of trees image

Over £12m funding has been allocated to plant hundreds of thousands of trees across England.

The successful applicants will be given funding from four different funds, announced as part of National Tree Week.

The announcement includes 139 local authorities receiving money from the Local Authority Treescapes Fund to plant 260,000 trees outside of woodlands.

The third round of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund has also been allocated, supporting 46 projects to plant almost 25,000 trees in deprived urban areas.

The Woods into Management Forestry Innovation Funds will distribute almost £700,000 to 17 projects restoring biodiversity in vulnerable natural habitats, while the Tree Production Innovation Fund will make over £1m available to 16 innovative projects to increase and diversify domestic tree production.

Forestry minister, Lord Goldsmith, said: 'This targeted package of funding will help us to build back greener and regenerate natural spaces across the country for the benefit of all.

'Trees are at the heart of our ambitious environmental programme, as we work to deliver on the promises we made at COP26 and treble tree planting rates by the end of this Parliament. But at the local level, trees and woodlands are the lifeblood of communities, essential to supporting wellbeing, reducing pollution and improving people’s quality of life.'

Approval has also been given to a new coastal community woodland in Cumbria, which will see a tree planted equivalent to every resident living in Barrow, Copeland and Allerdale.

It will provide a series of connected community woodlands down the western coast of Cumbria, with a minimum of 5,000 hectares of woodland created in the next 25 years.

Cllr Celia Tibble, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member for environment, said: 'This is incredibly exciting, and I’m delighted that the county council will be taking the lead role in this initiative. Trees and woodlands are vital in our fight against climate change but not only this; they also provide far reaching physical and mental health benefits too. Being able to connect local people with local nature without the need to travel will be fantastic.'

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