Here’s how our trees are saving the NHS millions

They looked at the amount of air pollutants being removed from the air by vegetation in Calderdale and Kirklees and found about 4.1 million kilogrammes were absorbed by plants in 2015.

That was the equivalent of 52.7kg per hectare, an area roughly the same size as a rugby pitch or London’s Trafalgar Square, compared to 59.4kg per hectare across the UK as a whole.

But Kirklees and Calderdale has a higher monetary saving per person as although it has large areas of green and rural land, it also has a relatively high population.

That average per head is £17.80, in avoided health costs for things like asthma, heart disease, and bronchitis, compared to £16.60 in Greater Manchester. The monetary value takes into account avoided health damage costs to people – the more people that benefit from the removal of pollution the higher the value. Overall, an estimated 1.4 billion kg of air pollutants were removed by woodlands, plants, grasslands and other vegetation.

However, to put this in context, more than five times as many fine particles were emitted in the UK in 2015, than was removed by vegetation in 2015.

This pollution removal saved the UK around £1 billion in avoided health damage costs. 4 Nights Half Board Festive Break at Elgin Hotel Sherry Reception & ‘Bubbly’ Reception Nightly Entertainment & Bingo Excursions to Barton Grange with Canal Cruise & Cleveleys & Fleetwood