80,000 trees to be planted in London

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has revealed that a record 80,000 trees are to be planted in London during National Tree Week, as well as a new mapping of London’s tree canopy cover.

Providing at least £133 million of benefits every year in terms of removing pollution and carbon dioxide from the air and reducing the amount of water going into drains, the trees help improve air quality by removing 2,241 tonnes of pollution every year.

In total 75,000 trees have already been given to public and community groups, with khan announcing a further 5,000 extra free trees available for Londoners as part of National Tree Week. The plant-a-thon will mark National Tree Week and help London become the world’s first National Park City.

As well as the mass tree planting, Khan has funded new mapping of London’s tree canopy cover, showing dramatic variation across the 32 boroughs - from 12 per to 28 per cent tree cover. Overall, it is estimated that trees cover around 21 per cent of the capital’s land area. Hampstead Town in Camden was highlighted as the ward with the highest tree cover in London at just over 58 per cent. The mayor has committed to increasing existing tree canopy cover by 10 per cent by 2050.

Khan said: “My Greener City Fund is investing £12 million in trees and green spaces to help London reach the goal of being confirmed as the world’s first National Park City next summer and expanding the capital’s impressive ‘urban forest’ of eight million trees. This initiative is really capturing the imagination and it is fantastic to know that there will be so many Londoners out in force this week planting trees across the city.”

Kate Sheldon, deputy chief executive, Trees for Cities, said: “Trees for Cities is delighted to be the lead delivery partner for the Mayor of London's first mass tree planting weekend. We welcome all Londoners to our fun, family-friendly planting days, giving everyone the opportunity to plant a tree. Together we will plant 25,000 trees in north, south, east and west London, creating beautiful urban woodland habitat for people to enjoy walking, foraging and spotting wildlife in years to come."