A record 34,000 trees have been given away to landowners and farmers in a bid to encourage more tree planting across Leicestershire.
More than 100 community groups, parish councils, schools, landowners and farmers went along to Beaumanor Hall near Loughborough last Thursday to pick up their tree packs, in what was the biggest tree giveaway ever undertaken by Leicestershire County Council in partnership with the Woodland Trust.
The free tree and hedgerow packs are designed to help renew and restore existing woodland and vegetation, as well as replacing trees which have been affected by diseases such as ash dieback.
Each tree pack includes 45 native trees - 15 each of oak, crab apple and hazel. The hedgerow packs are made up of 250 hedgerow shrubs, including a mix of hawthorn, hazel, blackthorn, field maple, dog rose as well as oaks to plant at regular intervals along the hedgerow.
They were offered to anyone living in Leicestershire with suitable areas of land to plant – including community groups, parish councils and schools, as well as landowners and farmers. Eligible applicants were invited to register for their free tree and hedgerow packs, in a bid to help the county council plant 700,000 trees – one for every person in Leicestershire.
We’re delighted to be working with the Woodland Trust again this year, to provide free trees and hedgerows to farmers and landowners across Leicestershire – and this year was the largest number for trees we have ever given away.
As part of our commitment to becoming a net-zero county by 2045, trees have an important role to play in keeping our air clean, helping to prevent flooding and providing valuable habitats for local wildlife.
Every one of the groups and individuals who signed up for the scheme is playing a vital part in helping to make Leicestershire a cleaner, greener place to live, work and visit.Person:Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for the environment and the green agenda
Leicestershire is one of the least wooded areas of the country, with around six per cent woodland – well below the national average of 10 per cent.