UK Nature and Environment

The scheme has helped to boost tree planting across the district, using funding from HM Treasury's Shared Outcomes Fund to test different ways of increasing tree cover in rural and urban areas. The latest round saw 25,000 trees planted in 22 projects on 15 different sites between December 2023 and March 2024 and included the scheme's latest initiative, a targeted planting scheme.

The targeted tree scheme enabled landowners to access funding to help plant trees, hedgerows, small-wooded areas (copses) and orchards in specific areas of the district where tree-planting could help increase links between habitats and help our environment adapt to the changing climate.

Projects have included the introduction of hedgerows, which play an important role in providing wildlife corridors for a number of different species, as well as the planting of community orchards in public spaces, where people can come together to plant collections of fruit trees and access local produce.