5.8 million trees to planted in Leeds in the next 25 years

In s bid to become carbon neutral by 2030 Leeds City Council has promised to plant 5.8 million trees across the city in the next 25 years.

To facilitate the planting of these new trees, 50 hectares of land will be brought forward each year for woodland creation, with over 100 hectares of publically owned land already being identified as potentially suitable.

Part of the initiative will also be to encourage children, schools and families to get involved with the tree planting, residents can collect seeds from their local parks and they can be grown into saplings at The Arium, the council’s parks nurseries, and then these will be planted to grow into trees of local provenance in the city’s new woodlands.

The first saplings will be planted this winter, trees planted as part of this project will also be counted towards the White Rose Forest, a joint local authority venture to double tree cover across the Leeds City Region by 2050.

Cllr Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for environment and active lifestyles, said:’ ‘It is great to see such a project coming to fruition.

‘When we declared the climate emergency we knew that we had to be inventive and ambitious in what we wanted to achieve, and the plan to plant over five million trees in Leeds is about as ambitious as I could have imagined.

Cllr Lisa Mulherin, Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate change, transport and sustainable development, added: ‘As a city, we are committed to leading by example in combating climate change, setting out last year on a mission to make Leeds carbon neutral by 2030.

‘I am therefore thrilled to see the woodland creation initiative launched today, which marks the beginning of a long-term commitment to the local environment and biodiversity of our city.’

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