Forest marks 30 years and nine million new trees

Mersey Forest Partnership's chairman Eunice Simmons told how former industrial sites had been transformed

A forest is marking its 30th anniversary after the first plan to "bring forests nearer to people" was developed for parts of Merseyside and Cheshire.

Millions of trees have been planted as part of the Mersey Forest project, bringing a host of benefits for people and wildlife in urban areas.

In the last 18 months alone about 260 hectares of new woodland have been established on plots of land throughout the Liverpool City region and Cheshire - the equivalent of about 400 football pitches.

Mersey Forest Partnership's chairman, Professor Eunice Simmons, said eyesore industrial sites were among the areas being transformed "to bring forests and planting right near where people live".

The former site of Bold Colliery in St Helens is among those to have been transformed

The planting schemes are part of the northern forest project, partnering with the Woodland Trust and others to plant 50m trees across the north over the next 25 years.

"The community forest movement was started in 1990 and Mersey Forest was very quick off the face," Prof Simmons said.

"One of the first forests to be established in the 30 years since, it's planted millions of trees. The movement was radical, the community forest movement was started to actually bring forests nearer to people."

Over the last 30 years around nine million trees have been planted to create the forest.

The Bold Colliery site is now "rich in wildlife", forest director Paul Nolan said

Frodsham, Cheshire, is one example where a former golf course has been transformed into a haven for wildlife and people, with more than 30,000 trees planted over the past 18 months.

And a plot of land on the edge of St Helens on the site of the former Bold Colliery and power station has been transformed into a tranquil green space.

"This is one of the sites that is now looked after as part of Mersey Forest and is well used," forest director Paul Nolan said.

"It's been transformed into beautiful woodland, which is now rich in wildlife really well used by the local people and has got a great future in terms of biodiversity close to people."