Worcester City Council's story
Planting trees offers many benefits to the environment and to society. Trees regulate the movement of water through ecosystems, reducing flooding and cooling the local climate. But they also have vital cultural benefits, and we know that access to green spaces is important for our physical and mental health. Worcester City Council wanted to share their story of tree planting with Planet Mark.
Planting trees was one of several actions set out in the Environmental Sustainability Strategy for Worcester, which aims for the city to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Planting vast numbers of trees is not easy, so it needed a ten-strong team of staff from Worcester City Council to complete the mammoth task of planting 4,000 native broadleaved trees in Perdiswell. The species were selected by the Forestry Commission to maximise biosecurity and biodiversity.
A further 1,500 trees were planted at Diglis Playing Fields to create woodland walkways and 600 at the Howard Road recreational grounds in St. John's, creating a barrier with neighbouring residential properties. The remaining 550 trees were planted in a variety of locations across the city. 6,650 new trees were planted in Worcester last winter, with the final saplings being planted in Perdiswell Park in January 2021.
The enormous tree planting programme was made possible thanks to successful applications by Worcester City Council to central Government's Urban Tree Challenge Fund, which aims to support the planting of more than 130,000 trees across England's towns and cities.
"This massive planting programme will also help to reduce noise, flood risk and provide more shade in the hotter months. As anyone who's tried it knows, tree planting is hard and painstaking work. I'd therefore like to thank all the staff involved." says Cllr Andy Stafford, Vice Chair of Worcester City Council's Environment Committee.
Useful learnings from Worcester City Council
Enlist support from local volunteers to help with extensive tree planting programmes. Many organisations such as Trees for Cities and the Woodland Trust offer grants to help purchase trees.
Worcester City Council's metrics
Amount of carbon offset over the next 20 years (144.64 metric tonnes).
