Northern Forest: More than 300,000 benefit from new trees, trust finds

The scheme has seen thousands of trees planted around cities and in more rural locations

More than 300,000 households have been given access to nature under plans to expand woodlands, a survey has found.

It assessed the impact of more than six million trees which have been planted during the last five years as part of the Northern Forest project.

The scheme will see 50 million trees planted from coast to coast and around cities such as Liverpool, York, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Hull by 2043.

The Lincolnshire-based Woodland Trust said the results were "remarkable".

The project, which was launched in 2018, aims to plant millions of new trees in areas with the lowest woodland cover.

The report, commissioned by the Northern Forest Partnership and conducted by Liverpool John Moores University, found enough trees had been planted to fill more than 4,000 football pitches.

It also found 19,000 tonnes of carbon had been "locked up" by trees planted through the scheme and there had been 7.5 million more visits to woodland each year.

Mr Sellwood said while there was still some way to go to reach the 50 million target, the results so far had been remarkable

Nick Sellwood, the Woodland Trust's Northern Forest programme director, said every political party "should be backing projects that can deliver real environmental and social benefits".

"The time is now for all parties to commit to tackling climate change and part of that is supporting schemes to get more trees in the ground," he said.

"In terms of the Northern Forest, we need new funds committed."

Mr Sellwood added that while there was still some way to go to reach the 50 million target of tree planting, the results so far had been remarkable.

Paul Nolan, chairman of England's Community Forests and director of The Mersey Forest, said the project was "vital to help the North adapt to a changing climate, whilst improving people's health and wellbeing and our economies".