Council handed share of £2m for tree planting project
Shropshire Council has won a share of a £2 million fund to increase the numbers of trees outside of woodlands.
The Government funding announced by Defra will be shared by projects investigating the best ways to boost tree numbers outside woodlands in areas including Shropshire, Chichester, Cornwall, Kent and Norfolk.
It is the second time Shropshire Council has been successful in gaining funds for the Trees Outside of Woodland project, having been granted £500,000 in 2020.
Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for climate change, environment and transport, welcomed the announcement.
He said:“Trees outside of woodland are essential to our communities by storing carbon, regulating temperatures, strengthening flood resilience and reducing air pollution.
"Together, these help to mitigate against climate change, reduce impacts from floods and improve people’s health and wellbeing.
“We are delighted to have been awarded a share in the second round of funding for this already successful scheme.
"It will allow us to continue with our ambition to plant 350,000 trees in our county by 2050, and to further build on the work being carried out by the climate team at Shropshire Council.”
Research projects funded by the second phase include Shropshire Council’s agroforestry 'farming with trees' scheme which seeks to provide the solution to the need to plant more trees and produce enough food for the nation.
The project is testing how to best encourage the uptake of tree planting schemes on farmland to improve biodiversity, soil health, productivity and animal welfare.
