Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan, MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, has welcomed news from the Government that the Great Northumberland Forest is to receive £720,000 towards tree planting as part of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Community Forests and Woodland Creation Partnerships. The programme is funded by the Government’s £750 million Nature for Climate Fund which is supporting plans to treble tree planting rates by the end of this Parliament.
The Great Northumberland Forest project is not one single forest, but a plan to plant millions of new trees across the county, which already has 20% tree coverage – double the England average.
Community Forests such as the Great Northumberland Forest Project and Woodland Creation Partnerships will deliver around 2,300 hectares of trees – equivalent to around 3,220 football pitches - by March next year thanks to the £44.2 million of funding. It is estimated the planting will see 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide absorbed by 2050 valued at nearly £100 million. It will also deliver wider environmental, biodiversity and social benefits worth over £30 million by 2050. The Nature for Climate Fund is helping these projects to expand woodlands near our cities, towns, villages and rivers - giving more people greater access to nature and improving health and wellbeing. The expansion of these important Partnerships will create new woodlands which will help to reduce flood risk, increase sustainable UK grown timber production and create new jobs within the forestry and environmental sector.
Anne-Marie, who attended the launch of the project, said of the new funding:
“This funding is really welcome news and a real boost for Northumberland as we continue to lead the way with tree planting.
“I will continue to bang the drum for the importance of tree planting: they are such an incredible natural resource and of course are sustainable. Planting more trees is not only vital to supporting habitats, they also store carbon, stabilise the soil and are beneficial in the fight against flooding.”
More information on the funding announced: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-expansion-of-woodlands-for-communities-across-england
Image 1: "Trees" by @Doug88888 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.
Image 2: Anne-Marie at the launch of the Great Northumberland Forest in November 2021.
