Landowners urged to plant trees and help battle climate change

Landowners can benefit from a Government-backed programme called Trees for Climate, a five-year woodland creation initiative providing natural solutions to climate change.

The programme provides grants for tree planting and maintenance support to landowners and farmers, as part of a national initiative to tackle the climate emergency and meet the Government's net zero emissions target by 2050.

The Mersey Forest is one of 12 Community Forests across England that is delivering the Trees for Climate programme locally, with years of experience of working with a range of landowners and partners to develop woodlands across the Merseyside and Cheshire area.

Funding is bespoke and open to all, whether you have a small pocket of unused land on your property or are a farmer with several hectares of land looking to diversify income streams.
 
Paul Nolan, Director of The Mersey Forest, explains: "Our experienced team will provide landowners with design, planning and planting advice and the grant covers planting and the ongoing funding to support the maintenance of the trees.
 
"For our landowner partners, including farmers, the benefits are direct and tangible, including delivering a year-on-year income, creating shelter for livestock and helping to manage water flow and soil."
 
One landowner that benefited from accessing funding and support in year one of the scheme was Lawrence Rose from Cheshire. The Mersey Forest team helped to plant 440 trees on an unused field on his land in March 2021.  Lawrence said: "After reading an article about the funding in an enewsletter I made some enquiries with the team to see if I could get some trees to go on a field at the back of my property. The team were great and made the process really easy, providing advice on the best species of trees for the land and coming down and planting them over a few days. I'm really looking forward to it establishing into a woodland and seeing the wildlife that it attracts and provides protection for. It was a pleasure working with the team and I'd like to thank them for doing such an excellent job."

Any landowners and farmers with land suitable for tree planting and interested in getting involved in the next phase of planting, which is due to start in the autumn, can contact The Mersey Forest team by calling: 01925 816217 or emailing: mail@merseyforest.org.uk .