We’ll plant an extra 30m trees a year vows PM

BORIS Johnson today promises to treble the rate of tree-planting in the UK, with up to 30million more planted every year.

In a major victory for the Daily Mail’s Christmas campaign to plant more trees, the plans would mean an area the size of the Norfolk Broads being covered with trees every year.

Mr Johnson will announce a £640million ‘Nature for Climate’ fund which would form part of Government efforts to hit the target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2050.

Under the proposals, the amount of land planted annually with new forests and woodland would increase from 10,000 hectares to 30,000 in the next five years.

That is the equivalent of 46,000 football pitches. The Woodland Trust estimates that up to 1,000 trees can be planted on each hectare.

At the same time, the Lib Dems have announced plans to plant 60million trees a year, calling it the ‘biggest tree-planting programme in UK history’. Party leader Jo Swinson said she wants to increase the amount of forest in the UK by 2045.

She said: ‘ The climate emergency is destroying our natural environment and threatening our children’s futures.

‘We will tackle the climate emergency by taking bold action to rapidly reduce carbon emissions as quickly as possible, and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. Our plan ... will green our towns and countryside to absorb damaging emissions. This will help us reach netzero emissions, and will nurture biodiversity, combat air pollution and improve public spaces.’

In a further attempt to prove the Tory Party’s green credentials, Mr Johnson is set to launch a £500million ‘ Blue Planet Fund’ paid for from the foreign aid budget. The money will be used both for research and to help developing countries clean up the seas and oceans.

He says the trees fund will pay for new forests ‘across the country’ and expanding existing ones as well as planting trees in cities and towns to improve air quality.

Mr Johnson said: ‘There is nothing more conservative than protecting our environment and these measures sit alongside our world-leading commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.’

This week the Mail launched its Christmas campaign by calling on readers to plant trees to create a greener Britain.

As well as being a ‘ Tree Angel’ by planting trees, readers can make donations which will be pooled to plant additional woodland.

Trees suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and also help combat pollution and reduce flooding.