City wins world tree status for fourth year
THERE might be few areas of greenery right at the heart of central Birmingham but the city has been rewarded for its arboreal faith elsewhere by having its Tree City of the World status “reconfirmed” for the fourth year running.
Overall the city’s current canopy of 20 per cent of its land mass is “above average” but the council’s target is to try to increase that by half.
The main areas of greenery in the city are in Birmingham Cathedral Square and St Paul’s Square in Hockley. There is a bank of trees next to the now demolished former Axis site on Holliday Street but the largest collection of mature trees next to Park Street at the back of the Clayton Hotel (formerly Hotel La Tour) was cut down by HS2.
New Street itself has more than two dozen trees along its entire length from Victoria Square to High Street, but trees on Corporation Street were lost when work began to build (and later rebuild) the West Midlands Metro tram route a decade ago.
Some of the trees on New Street could be argued to have outgrown the area they are in and could easily end up being replaced by “more ornamental trees”.
That approach is already being taken in more open areas like Centenary Square and even High Street Deritend, which is now receiving silver birch instead of oaks, horse chestnut
or plane trees.
It is only when you travel further out to areas like Bristol
Road in Edgbaston or Highfield Road in Hall Green you can see the value of what can genuinely be called “tree lined boulevards”. The closer you get to the city centre, the more likely it is that an area will be relying on the odd tree here
and there to brighten the streets up, including the almost-barren Moor Street Queensway. Reflecting on the city’s global status being retained, Cllr Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “It’s great to hear we have been independently reconfirmed as a Tree City of the World for the fourth year running. This is recognition of our dedication to growing and maintaining our urban forest by working with partners to shape and deliver plans that develop our environment in a sustainable and coherent way.
“We know the benefits that trees bring for the health and wellbeing of the people of Birmingham as well as our economy, so we will continue to do everything we can to manage and enhance the city’s tree canopy because that is integral to our ambitions both as a city of nature and on our route to achieving net zero carbon emissions.”
Earlier this month, Cllr Mahmood told the Post that he was aiming to try to increase the city’s green canopy up to between 25 and 35 per cent. He called on every household to try to do its bit by planting a tree.
Cllr Mahmood said: “Birmingham’s canopy cover is not equitably distributed, so we need to deliver increases in urban canopy cover in areas below average.
“Domestic gardens offer a big opportunity. Regardless of the size of tree you want to plant, there is one for every garden and location.”
Birmingham City Council has a policy of planting a new tree for every other one felled for whatever reason and the speed of replacement is usually within months depending on the time of the year.
More than 90,000 trees were planted in the city between 2006 and 2020, and that figure rose to 100,000 in 2022.
Birmingham’s canopy cover is not equitably distributed, so we need to deliver increases in urban canopy cover in areas below average. Cllr Mahmood