Millions Of Trees Set To Be Planted To Create UK ‘Northern Forest’

The Woodland Trust, in partnership with the Community Forest Trust and the five Community Forests, aims to plant woodland totalling 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres), in a project which is forecast to cost £500 million over 25 years. Image credit: The Woodland Trust on Twitter

Plans to plant 50 million trees to create a UK “Northern Forest” between Liverpool and Hull have been backed with £5.7 million from the Government.

The Smithills estate, on Winter Hill near Bolton

Press Association report continues:

Planting is planned over the next 25 years across a 120-mile stretch of northern England along the M62 corridor to boost habitat for wildlife including birds and bats, protect species such as the red squirrel and provide more access to woodlands for millions of people living in the area.

The Woodland Trust, in partnership with the Community Forest Trust and the five Community Forests, aims to plant woodland totalling 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres), in a project which is forecast to cost £500 million over 25 years.

It could generate an estimated £2 billion for the economy in growth in tourism and visits to the area, boosting rural businesses and generating jobs, increasing property values, and reducing the economic impacts of flooding, the scheme’s backers say.

The Northern Forest is set to form part of the Government’s long-awaited 25-year environment plan and £5.7 million of public money is being committed to launch the scheme.

It is hoped government funding to kick-start planting will help encourage private landowners to come on board with the project.

Planting will begin in March at the Woodland Trust’s 680-hectare (1,680-acre) Northern Forest flagship site at Smithills, Bolton, supported by funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Northern Forest will connect the five Community Forests in the north of England, the Mersey Forest, Manchester City of Trees, South Yorkshire Community Forest, the Leeds White Rose Forest and the HEYwoods Project, with woodland created in and around major urban centres such as Chester, Liverpool, Leeds, and Manchester.

Woodlands will be a mix of native broadleaf trees such as oaks and conifers including spruce and pine, and will be targeted at areas where they can boost health and wellbeing.

Establishing a new network of forests in England including on farmland, and funding larger-scale woodland and forest creation, also forms part of the Government’s clean growth strategy to meet legally binding targets to cut climate emissions.

Austin Brady, director of conservation at the Woodland Trust, said: “The Northern Forest will accelerate the creation of new woodland and support sustainable management of existing woods right across the area.

“Planting many more trees, woods and forests will deliver a better environment for all - locking up carbon on a large scale, boosting wildlife habitat and greening our towns and cities.

“The Woodland Trust and Community Forests will use new and innovative mechanisms to engage communities and a wide range of partners in delivering the forest.”

Prime Minister Theresa May told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show: “We’re putting money in this national forest. We will be developing that.

“It’s going to take time to plant the millions of trees that will be needed in order to develop this national forest, so this is not a short term thing that’s going to happen but the commitment is there.”

Northern Forest: Plan To Plant ‘Ribbon Of Woodland’ Across England

BBC News reports that plans to create a new Northern Forest stretching from Liverpool to Hull have been kick-started by the government. It is providing £5.7m to increase tree cover along a belt spanning Manchester, Leeds and Bradford.

The project will cost £500m over 25 years. The balance of the funds will need to be raised by charity.

Environmentalists have welcomed the planned 50 million new trees, but say ministers must stop allowing ancient woodland to be felled.

The UK has one of the lowest rates of woodland in Europe and the area to be covered by the Northern Forest is one of the most denuded in England, with tree cover less than 8%.

The emphasis of the project will be to increase tree cover around major conurbations to 20%. There will also be a focus on river valleys, where there are benefits for flood prevention and soil loss - as well as wildlife.

But these areas will soak up funding, leaving many of the northern hills just as bleak and treeless in the coming 25 years.

But the Woodland Trust, which is leading the scheme with local Community Forests, says the new wooded areas shouldn't be under-estimated, as they will greatly enhance the environment for people in northern cities.

Its conservation director, Austin Brady, said the benefits would be strongest in areas where there's been industrial activity, over-grazing and neglectful farming.

He told BBC News: "We're delighted the prime minister's supporting our project - it's great to get the idea of the Northern Forest on the map.

"Admittedly the government's cash contribution isn't huge, but it will help us to unlock other funding."

'Supreme irony'

There should be more government cash available for landowners to improve the environment by tree planting if farm subsidies are reformed after Brexit, as planned by the Environment Secretary Michael Gove.

Mr Brady also said the Trust hoped to benefit from funds allocated for mitigating the environmental impact of major transport projects expected in the north, such as road-building and HS2.

But Paul de Zylva from Friends of Earth told BBC News: "It is a supreme irony that tree planters will have to get funding from HS2, which threatens 35 ancient woodlands north of Birmingham.

"You simply can't compare the biodiversity value of new sticks in the ground with ancient forest.

"If the government really cared about woodlands it wouldn't be routing a high speed train through them. And it wouldn't be allowing this weight of this project to be carried by charity."

'Cherished assets'

The government has been slipping behind schedule on a promise it made to plant 11 million trees. The Woodland Trust say last year saw the lowest level of planting in England for many years - just 1,000 hectares.

The forest announcement forms part of the government's long-delayed 25 Year Environment Plan, which will set out how ministers aim to leave the environment in a better state than they inherited it.

The report is due this week and environmentalists say it should be judged not on its ambitious sentiments but on concrete policies backed by cash.

Commenting on the forest announcement, Mr Gove said: "Trees are some of our most cherished natural assets and living evidence of our investment for future generations.

"Not only are they a source of beauty and wonder, but a way to manage flood risk, protect precious species, and create healthier places for us to work and live.

"This new Northern Forest is an exciting project that will create a vast ribbon of woodland cover in northern England, providing a rich habitat for wildlife to thrive, and a natural environment for millions of people to enjoy."

The description of the project from the Woodland Trust suggests that the forest will be less of a green ribbon and more of a sparsely-threaded doily.