Leeds residents asked to help fund tree-planting scheme

Sponsors are being asked to pay £150 to plant a tree on a glass verge

People in Leeds are being asked to sponsor trees and help look after them as part of a new green initiative.

Residents can chose the location of their tree on grass verges across the city.

It costs £150 to plant one and sponsors are also being asked to water them over summer months.

The scheme is run in partnership with charity Trees for Streets and is part of the city council's target to double the number of trees by 2050.

About 150 hectares of woodland had already been planted on public land with the help of volunteers since the launch of the council's Woodland Creation Scheme, the council said.

Private landowners are also being helped to access support to plant trees through the council's partnership with the White Rose Forest initiative.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique said planting more trees brought "incredible benefits".

"From cooling our streets on hot days, helping to prevent flooding, boosting our wellbeing, creating space for nature, improving beauty in an area—or even their ability to remove planet-warming gases from the air—our ambitious tree planting targets are key to making Leeds a greener, healthier, and better place to live," he said.

The council said tree cover in England was among the lowest in Europe which had an impact on resilience to the climate crisis, rising temperatures and increasingly severe weather.