Millions of trees to be planted across Yorkshire and England as part of a £44m forest expansion

The investment will create larger, well-designed and more diverse woodlands which will be more resilient to climate change, as well as natural hazards such as wildfires and storms.

They will help to reduce flood risk in vulnerable areas, provide sustainable UK grown timber and provide more places for nature and biodiversity to thrive. England’s 13 Community Forests, including the Humber and Mersey Forests as well as partners including the Northern Forest, National Forest and Great Northumberland Forest, are all set to benefit from the funding.

As part of the Government’s £750m Nature for Climate Fund, these projects will expand woodlands near our cities, towns, villages and rivers – giving more people greater access to nature and improving health and wellbeing.

Around 2,300 hectares of trees – equivalent to around 3,220 football pitches – will be planted altogether as part of this year’s £44.2m funding allocation, which forms part of Government ambition to treble tree planting rates by the end of this Parliament and reach net zero.

The funding will also create more green jobs within the forestry and environmental sectors.

Lord Zac Goldsmith, Forestry Minister, said: “Our economies, livelihoods and wellbeing all rely on nature.

“As well as tackling the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, this significant funding will create diverse treescapes across the country and improve the health and wellbeing of local communities by giving them more opportunities to enjoy nature on their doorstep.”

Paul Nolan, Chair of England’s Community Forests, said it would help establish more new woodlands close to people to deliver benefits that come with trees, nature and greenspace.

For example, the Northern Forest area is home to 13 million people, but it only has 7.6 per cent woodland cover – much lower than the UK average of 13 per cent.

It has already established more than three million new trees since 2018 and is transforming the landscape in and around cities such as Liverpool, Chester, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, York and Hull.

Local authorities will also benefit from the new Tree and Woodland Strategies toolkit, launching in September in partnership with the Tree Council, Fera, Forestry Commission and Forest Research. This will help to build local capacity to plan for new trees and woodlands.

Sir William Worsley, Forestry Commission Chair, added: “The social, environmental and economic benefits of being in woodlands are well-documented, helping local communities to be happier, healthier and more pleasant places to live.

“It is a personal mission of mine to make sure as many people as possible get to experience these benefits.

“This funding will ensure we plant trees in areas close to where people live, as well as providing job opportunities in new woodland creation through planting, establishing and managing trees.”