Lukasz Szmigiel / Unsplash
The Northern Forest will be planted in and around the cities of Liverpool, Chester, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Hull.
The collective work of The Mersey Forest, City of Trees, White Rose Forest, and HEYwoods, as well as Woodland Trust, will bring to life the Northern Forest.
It comes after it’s found the north is home to 13 million people but just a mere 7.6% of woodland cover – way below the national average.
Illiya Vjestica / Unsplash
The forest will not only look great but it will also reduce the risk of flooding in the area, store thousands of carbon and create thousands of new jobs in the area.
Many council leaders, including Sir Richard Leese in Manchester, are backing the ambitious project that will see a forest created. More than 120 northern leaders and MPs have written to the prime minister asking for his commitment to deliver the Northern Forest.
Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said:
“Manchester City Council declared a climate change emergency earlier this year and is working on a wide range of initiatives to enable the city to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming zero carbon by 2038.
“We are bringing forward an action plan which will explain how Manchester will achieve this ambitious target.
“The Northern Forest initiative, which would help absorb millions of tonnes of carbon, is entirely complementary to that wider goal and something we wholeheartedly endorse.”
Darren Moorcroft, CEO, Woodland Trust, said:
“The Northern Forest represents the green lungs of the Northern Powerhouse. This pioneering project spearheaded by Woodland Trust and the Community Forests will deliver millions of new trees planted, and billions of pounds worth of economic, social and environmental benefits to the region.
“If we are to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises the world faces, internationally significant projects like the Northern Forest must be at the forefront of bold, ambitious domestic thinking.”
