Last year’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow added some new impetus to the determination to make a difference in the climate change agenda. One of the ways to make a difference is to plant more trees.

In Gloucester, during the city’s budget presentation at the start of 2020, I offered the opportunity for each councillor to plant up to 300 trees in their own wards. For some this was quite difficult as they have little space. For others which are less congested, there are a number of places where planting is possible.

The planting didn’t happen during the winter of 20/21 because of Covid lockdowns, but is going ahead in earnest this winter. Plans have been drawn up for planting in every ward, which should be already underway in various places across the city. This planting will comprise a mix of whips and specimen trees which are much larger. It is hoped that as many as 5,000 trees of various sizes will be planted during this season. If you want to help in your local area, please get in touch with your local councillor.

Last autumn I was invited to the planting of a specimen tree behind the Moat Primary School in Matson. All the children attended and will hopefully remember that this was to celebrate the Queen’s Green Canopy planting scheme marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Planting over 100,000 new trees

In late autumn I joined about 30 school-children from Hempsted Primary, along with the MP and his office staff, to plant 100 of the trees planned for the former landfill site in Hempsted. Over the next few years there is a plan to cover over 100 acres with new tree planting, which should deliver over 100,000 new trees on this site alone.

Every primary school child in Gloucester will be given the opportunity to help with this project, which will make Hempsted Woods their patch and their contribution to helping mitigate climate change. The area will also host footpaths and play areas to make it an area of interest to residents and visitors alike. Working with the Local Nature Partnership and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, this will form part of a much wider tree planting project, stretching from the bank of the Severn further south, moving north towards the Malverns.

So even in Gloucester, which has a tightly constrained urban boundary, there are opportunities to make a difference, with more to come.