NEWS

National Trust to plant 800 football pitches of woodlands

This ambitious series of planting projects has been funded and supported by England’s Community Forests’ Trees for Climate programme, part of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Nature for Climate Fund. Thanks to £7.1 million in funding, a total of 20 planting projects will be completed on land across England, the majority of which is cared for by the conservation charity, with some of the largest in Devon, Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Merseyside.

By the end of March, almost 416,000 trees will have been planted to establish new woodlands, wood pasture, hedgerows and orchards. These woody habitats will help mitigate climate change, provide homes for nature and accessible woods close to towns and cities for people and communities to enjoy.

The largest tree planting project is at Lunt in Sefton, Merseyside, where work is now underway to plant 78 hectares (192.7 acres) with nearly 93,000 trees. The land was recently purchased from Sefton Council by the National Trust. Part funded by The Mersey Forest’s Trees for Climate programme, the acquisition will connect with the Community Forest network, open up access to the countryside for local communities and join a mosaic of nature-rich landscapes together.

A network of 15 Community Forests, the England’s Community Forests initiative started over three decades ago and it has been working in partnership with the National Trust since 2021. By the end of this spring, an impressive total of 693 hectares (1712 acres) of trees will have been planted on Trust land over the three years of the partnership, creating the equivalent of over 1,070 football pitches of vital woody habitats.

John Deakin, the National Trust head of Trees and Woodland said: “We’ve found lots of natural synergy with the Community Forests in the way we approach woodland and tree establishment to give maximum value for people, nature and climate.

“Trees are our most powerful tool in locking up carbon and mitigating climate change. Working in partnership allows us to plant even more trees, restore more spaces for nature and store carbon on an even bigger scale.

“Meanwhile, with each new area of planting connecting with existing habitats plus extending the size of local Community Forest areas, we can ensure that more people have opportunities to connect with nature close to where they live, something we all need.”

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