A new national forest to see 20 million trees planted across the West by 2050

The government announced that 20 million trees will be planted and 2500 hectares (6,178 acres) from New Woodland, which was created in western England as part of the “National Forest” engine.

The western forest of the new and current forests will consist of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Cotswolds and Mendips as well as in urban areas such as Bristol, Swindon and Guloseter.

The first of three new national forests will be promised by the government to help achieve a legally binding goal to achieve the cover of forests by 16.5 % in England by 2050.

However, with only 10 % cover achievement so far, environmental groups have warned much more to meet the targets of tree planting.

Newest research He explains that the total area of ​​forests throughout the United Kingdom is currently estimated at 3.28 million hectares.

This represents 13 % of the total land area in the UK but in England only 10 % is forests.

Throughout the UK, the goal is to plant 30,000 hectares of forests every year.

The latest annual numbers were planted about 21,000 hectares, with the vast majority of Scotland and only 5500 hectares in England.

Andy Egy, head of the Woodland Trust, said that there was “great progress” in tree cultivation, but there is still “much more” to achieve the UK goals.

He said that maintaining government financing is necessary.

“Cultivation of successful trees and continuous management needs to support long -term grants,” he said.

“The difficult public spending environment can risk back away from a lot of good work.”

There are some areas in the region that currently has only 7 % of the lands covered by trees, “said Alex Stone, CEO of the Avon Trust Forest, which leads the partnership behind the Western Forest project.

“This is related to raising these areas so that we have trees where we really need,” she said.

“What we aim to do with the Western Forest is to get 20 % of the umbrella cover by 2050, and in five priority areas, we are looking for more than 30 %.”

The scheme will particularly target urban areas, including Bristol, Swindon and Vagloster.

The government said it would put 7.5 million pounds of public funds in the forest over the next five years.

She said that the project will not only help the UK campaign to net zero, but will also enhance economic growth and create job opportunities in the region.

Marie Craig, Minister of Nature, said that she hopes that the Western forest also spoke a big difference “on the quality of water, the elasticity of floods and wildlife, as well as making nature” closer to people “in the region.

But she admitted that there was a lot to do it in order to hit the national goal of planting trees in England.

She said, “I am completely confident that we can reach where we need to reach it.”

“Such projects give me hope and confidence, with everyone’s assembly, while working with the public sector and the private sector, we can do so.”

She added that despite the continuous budget discounts, the following national forests will be delivered at the end of this parliament, with other sources of financing exploration.

The Western Forest is the first new national forest to be appointed in England 30 years ago, after the establishment of the original national forest via Leicester, Derbeshire and Rovyurdeshire, where 9.8 million trees were planted.