Environment Awards: Countryside Award Winner: Forest Of Bradford

One startling fact stood out – the district had a level of woodland cover totalling just 4.2 per cent, less than half the UK average.

The volunteers decided it was time to act… and the Forest of Bradford project was born.

Almost 15 years later, the effect on the local countryside has been astounding.

More than 400,000 new trees and shrubs have been planted by the group across the district since 1997, giving rise to over 400 acres of new native woodland and many miles of native hedgerows.

A huge array of sites have benefited, including city centre streets, wide open spaces, the grounds of local schools and businesses and wild meadows and farmland around the district.

“It sounds simple, but we just wanted to see more trees in the city initially,” said Ian Butterfield, one of the project founders. “We wanted to see more green around the area.

“Our first tree-planting exercise was at Bolton Woods, between Shipley and Bradford. It was so successful that off the back of that we picked up some momentum and just kept growing.”

The project has engaged a huge cross-section of the community over the years since, with hundreds of individual volunteers plus local schools, businesses and community groups all lending a hand to help make Bradford a greener place.

“There are so many practical reasons for wanting more trees,” Mr Butterfield said. “First of all there is the biodiversity they engender – it provides natural habitat for so many birds, creatures and insects in Bradford.

“Then there’s the fact it improves air quality, pulling particles out of the air. There’s obviously the positive impact on carbon emissions and climate change.

“We get a lot of flooding in this part of the world and trees help to mitigate that by reducing the risk of flash-flooding.

“And the health benefits and lifestyle benefits for people to be surrounded by trees is something you can’t really quantify.”

Much of the work is seasonal, with Forest of Bradford volunteers planting some 40,000 trees each winter. Considerable woodland management work continues all the year round, however.

The project now has plantations at more than 300 different sites across the district – but its work is far from complete.

The scheme’s long-term aim is to plant one million trees across Bradford – a goal it is nearly half way to achieving.

“We couldn’t do any of it without the volunteers,” Mr Butterfield said. “They are the ones who do all the planting – they are the ones who make it all happen.”

Taking a trip back to flourishing Bolton Woods now, the site of the first Forest of Bradford planting scheme nearly 15 years ago, is truly heartening.

“It is proper woodland there now,” Mr Butterfield said. “It really is great to see it thriving.”