Belfast City Council's new tree strategy aims to tackle climate targets

More trees and more types of tree - those are the aims of a newly-launched 10-year strategy from Belfast City Council.

Trees are helpful against the effect of warming weather in cities, and they can slow climate change by storing carbon.

The Belfast plan's two main objectives are a greater diversity of species and an increased level of tree cover.

The strategy links tree planting and management with Belfast's climate ambitions and has 37 targets.

The strategy's authors found that tree cover in the city has increased since the 1990s, but still falls short of targets. It also found that only 35% of trees are in good condition.

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There is already a One Million Trees project underway in Belfast for the next 15 years.

But last year campaigners in south Belfast spoke out against trees being chopped down as part of a Department for Infrastructure flood alleviation plan.

'Urban forest'

On Thursday, Belfast Lord Mayor Ryan Murphy planted a 'survivor' tree grown from a seed that survived the atomic bomb attack in Hiroshima.

He said the tree strategy would encourage tree planting and work in partnership with the One Million Trees strategy.

"Trying to sum it up in three ways would be protecting, enhancing and expanding trees, hedges and all of those green spaces right across the city of Belfast," he said.

"It is about trying to reconnect people with nature, some of those places that are right on their doorstep.

"It's also looking at how we can try to create that urban forest, looking at places which may look a bit grey and trying to bring some trees and green."

Kenton Rogers, a chartered forester from the Treeconomics organisation which worked with the council on the strategy, said more tree cover was needed to provide benefits for people in Belfast.

He said the plan involves looking at what tree species will be able to tolerate the higher temperatures we may see in the future.

"One of the ways we can build in resilience to a tree scape is to plant a good number of tree species but also to put them in the areas where people most need them.

"Where the temperatures are going to be higher, where there's going to be more surface flooding and where there's social inequality."

Belfast is "ahead of the game" in comparison to other UK cities when it comes to developing a tree strategy, he added.