Council Plans to Plant Trees are a Good Start but We Need to Do More to Fight Back Against Climate Change. By Adam Colclough
Green Party activists in Stoke-on-Trent have given their support to council plans to plant trees to address climate change.
A spokesperson said, ‘trees have a key role in reducing air pollution and helping to reverse the impact of climate change. The council plans plant more is to be welcomed, but this must only be the start of a coordinated plan of action’.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council are working with The Woodland Trust to plant more than 11,000 trees around the city. The scheme will be funded by the Woodland Trust and Lloyds Banking Group as part of the ‘Big Climate Fightback’.
The tree planted will be ‘pioneer species’, including Birch, Aspen and Alder, shrubs such as Hawthorn and Hazel will also be planted alongside some Oak Trees. All the trees will be grown in the UK for the council and The Woodland Trust.
A spokesperson for The Woodland Trust said, “Trees are our strongest warriors in the battle against climate change. They lock up carbon, fight flooding and cool our cities. But there are simply not enough of them to tackle the climate emergency. To hit the Government's 2050 carbon net zero target, the UK desperately needs more trees”.
Councillor Carl Edwards cabinet member for the Environment said, “The city council is keen to restore habitat and foraging space for the wide variety of wildlife that is supported by tree cover. We also recognise the change in both national and local mood towards preserving woodland and space for nature, and that levels of concern about climate change are at an all-time high”.
Launched in October 2020 the Big Climate Fightback is an ambitious plan by The Woodland Trust to plant 50 million trees by 2025 to help tackle climate change.
Woodland Trust Chief Executive Darren Moorcroft said at the time of the launch that the four million trees panted by the trust in 2019 had been a ‘great achievement’, but even this was still well below what was needed for the UK to meet its climate change targets.
Outlining plans to give support to local authorities and community groups to plant more trees he went on to say that “we know the clock is ticking and we must act now. Trees are nature’s most powerful weapons in the fight against climate change”.
The spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said, “the need to do all we can to address the impact of climate change has become imperative, we are committed to working with the council and communities to play our part”.
The party is working with the council to expand the city’s tree stock and is planning to set up a network of Tree Wardens to work on this project. Anyone interested can find out more by email at colclougha@aol.com
The areas proposed for the planting scheme are Allendale Walk, Sandy Road, Gill Bank, Dalton Grove, Frodingham Road, Goms Mill, Chelmsford Drive and Bankey Fields.
There will be opportunities for communities to get involved in the planting and the council are holding a consultation to hear their views, this opened at the beginning of September and runs until September 30th.
Planting is planned to begin before Spring 2022, further details including of how the public can get involved will be shared once a date has been finalised.