Tree numbers boosted by planting days
As part of the county council’s ambition to plant one million trees by 2030, three planting days have been held.
The planting days took place on 3, 5 and 6 December at Stocks Farm near Stonehouse, which is owned by the county council.
About 20 large trees were planted, along with a wildlife corridor stretching over 450m, providing more than 3,200 new plants.
The Gloucestershire Youth Climate Group, a group dedicated to combating climate change across the county, helped with the planting, along with teams of volunteers.
The planting will create a wildlife corridor alongside a railway track, providing an excellent habitat for birds and insects.
Planting has taken place over the last two years at the site, where 200 young trees were planted on field edges last year.
Since 2020, the county council has planted 66,390 trees and if conditions allow, more than 80,000 will be planted this season.
The tree planting programme has been boosted with extra funding worth nearly £150,000 that has been awarded to the county council by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Forestry Commission.
The money, from the Woodland Creation Acceleration Fund, will be used to pay for additional staff and contractors over the next two years to help plant more trees.
If you have land available for planting please get in touch by using the expression of interest form and you can find out more about tree planting here.
Cllr David Gray, cabinet member for environment and planning, said: “These planting days have moved us a step closer to achieving our ambition of planting one million trees by 2030.
“I would like to thank the volunteers who helped with this planting and would encourage anyone with land available for planting to get in touch with us. Trees improve our well-being, provide a haven for wildlife and are helping us reach our carbon targets.”
For more information on the Gloucestershire Youth Climate Group see https://cscic.org/gycg/
Planting trees will help us work towards a Greener Gloucestershire by improving air quality and biodiversity. You can sign up to receive the ‘Greener Gloucestershire’ newsletter to keep up to date on local activity, as well as to receive hints and tips on how you can reduce carbon emissions.