Kirklees Council Parks & Greenspaces

Woodland Creation:

The Government's England Tree Action Plan has set out ambitious aims to at least treble woodland creation rates across the country.

To meet these ambitions Kirklees Council is working towards increasing its tree canopy cover to 21% by 2050 and as a key partner of the White Rose Forest, this ambition aligns with the White Rose Forest Action plan 2021-2025.

It also supports wider council priorities relating to Clean and Green and the declared Climate Emergency including the recently published Kirklees Environment Strategy

The planting of trees and creation of woodland provides multiple benefits to an area and the communities that live there. These include:

* Removal of carbon from the air and contribution to long-term carbon storage

* Helping to alleviate flooding by slowing the movement of water through the land

* Improving air quality by taking particulates out of the air we breathe

* Improving water quality by cleaning and filtering water before it reaches water courses.

These all help towards mitigating the effects of climate change.

Importantly, woodland creation also:

* Increases biodiversity by expanding the variety of habitats, plants and animals; helping to reverse the national decline.

* Provides communities with access to high quality green spaces to promote exercise, recreation and other associated health benefits.

* Provides economic benefits - adding trees and woodland helps to transform areas by increasing their attractiveness; making them places that people want to live, work and invest in.