Hundreds of thousands of trees are set to be planted in communities across England as applications for the Local Authority Treescapes Fund and the Urban Tree Challenge Fund reopen today (Wednesday, March 2).
Over £9 million will be allocated to successful applicants across both funds, which will support tree planting efforts and improve the environment for future generations as Britain aims build back greener from the pandemic.
Both funds form part of the government’s wider drive to treble tree planting rates across England by the end of this Parliament and plant 30,000ha of trees across the UK per year by 2025.
Now in its second round, successful applicants to the Local Authority Treescapes Fund will be allocated a share of £5.4 million for the planting of up to 650,000 trees in 2022/23.
Projects will support local authorities to establish trees in different ways, from natural regeneration (where trees are left to naturally develop) to traditional planting.
Community engagement is encouraged, and local authorities can bring together local residents, schools and environmental groups to restore trees in areas outside woodlands.
These include riverbanks, parks, beside roads and footpaths, and within vacant community spaces – areas where treescapes are often highly degraded due to neglect or disease.
Trees in urban areas
If successful, applicants to the fourth round of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund will be awarded a share of more than £3.8 million – enough to fund the planting of over 28,000 large trees in both urban areas, and where rural and urban areas meet.
This funding aims to grow the number of trees in and around deprived urban areas to bring people from all socio-economic backgrounds closer to nature.
A blog outlining these differences and offering guidance on how to apply for both funds has been published by the Forestry Commission.
In addition, the Tree Council, in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Forestry Commission, is holding a Q&A session offering guidance for local authorities on both funds.
Forestry Minister Lord Goldsmith said:
“Everyone across the country deserves to benefit from the cleaner air and natural beauty that trees offer.
“This funding will support inspiring projects in England to level up people’s access to nature, support our wider ambitions to treble tree planting rates by the end of this Parliament and achieve net zero by 2050.”
