Plan for ‘Northern Forest’
NO money for the NHS or housing and education but spend millions on trees. Yes brilliant idea. Yet another senseless act of this so-called government. Jordan Sykes GREAT to see a little vision. There are some fantastic little pieces of woodland around the north west but they’re just so fragmented (and with no real reason for it). Be great if/when it is fully realised. Stephen Paul Ferguson
A lot of the current tree planting schemes are to strengthen flood defences but any initiative like this helps clean the air of pollutants and encourages wildlife. Helen Cole
PLANTS take our CO2 and give us back O2 so big up the plants. Karl Ahmed
THAT’S a lot of trees just in Bolton. Will there be any room left for some shops? Terry Mutch
ERR... stop chopping down trees to build houses then. Mark Chaloner
PLANS to plant 50 million trees to create a ‘Northern Forest’ through Greater Manchester have been revealed.
Planting is set to take place over the next 25 years across a 120-mile stretch of northern England along the M62 corridor from Liverpool to Hull. It will start in Bolton in March, at the Northern Forest’s flagship site at Smithills.
The plans are designed to boost habitat for wildlife, including birds and bats, protect species such as the red squirrel and provide more access to woodlands for millions of people.
The government is awarding £5.7m to increase tree cover along a belt spanning Manchester, Leeds and Bradford.
The Woodland Trust, in partnership with the Community Forest Trust and the five Community Forests, aims to plant woodland totalling 62,000 acres in a project which is forecast to cost £500m over 25 years.
It could generate an estimated £2bn for the economy in growth in tourism and visits to the area, boosting rural businesses and generating jobs, increasing property values and reducing the economic impacts of flooding, the scheme’s backers say.
The Northern Forest is set to form part of the government’s long-awaited 25-year environment plan. It is hoped government funding to kick-start planting will help encourage private landowners to join the project.
Planting will begin in March at the Woodland Trust’s 680-hectare (1,680acre) site at Smithills, supported by cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Northern Forest will connect the five Community Forests in the north of England, the Mersey Forest, Manchester City of Trees, South Yorkshire Community Forest, the Leeds White Rose Forest and the HEYwoods Project, with woodland created in and around major urban centres. Woodlands will be a mix of native broadleaf trees such as oaks and conifers including spruce and pine and will be targeted at areas where they can boost health and wellbeing.
Establishing a new network of forests in England including on farmland, and funding larger-scale woodland and forest creation, also forms part of the government’s clean growth strategy to meet targets to cut climate emissions.
Austin Brady, director of conserva- tion at the Woodland Trust, said: “The Northern Forest will accelerate the creation of new woodland and support sustainable management of existing woods right across the area. Planting many more trees, woods and forests will deliver a better environment for all - locking up carbon on a large scale, boosting wildlife habitat and greening our towns and cities.”