Half a million trees are set to be planted across England over the next three years in a bid to protect the country against extreme weather.
Environment secretary, Angela Eagle, pledged a £79m package in a speech at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, which will include £53m for tree-planting and £26m for “local nature recovery strategies”.
The money will be given to Mayors, local authorities, charities and grassroots groups to help fund restoring natural landscapes such as wetlands, river edges and meadows - which are vital for managing flood risks and damage from drought.
Eagle told the conference: “In areas where nature has been allowed to flourish, the ground held more water, and the droughts were less severe.”
“On streets where trees have been planted, the shade meant temperatures were lower. And when rain finally came, those same trees reduced the risk of floods. We all deserve access to the benefits that nature can bring.”
Persistent heatwaves this summer showed an urgent need for more trees as more than half of the country was plunged into drought.
Trees can reduce air temperatures by 4C in cities and reduce flooding by intercepting 15,000 litres of water a year. A mature tree can also absorb air pollution and provide much needed habitats for wildlife.
To put these targets in perspective, in 2024 to 2025 about 888,000 trees were planted outside woodland in England in addition to 5,765 hectares of new woodland, according to data from the forestry commission.
Overall this is the equivalent to 1,399 hectares, bringing the total area of tree canopy established and numbers of trees planted to 7,164 hectares, or 10.4 million trees.
But this funding will also help restore England’s wetlands. Over the last century England has lost more than 90 per cent of its wetlands and Craig Bennett, the chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts believes “we need to make Britain wet again.”
“We could have tens of thousands of new wetlands,” he added.
“For a long time local authorities have been trying to help nature but did not have the power, money or political support. The Burnham government seems to have realised that nature is crucial to the country’s future,” he told The Guardian.
