300,000 households given new access to nature, new study of Northern Forest shows - Woodland Trust
More than 300,000 households – equivalent to roughly a city the size of Leeds** – have been given access to nature they previously didn’t have, a new Northern Forest study shows.
The report, commissioned by the Northern Forest Partnership and conducted by Liverpool John Moores University, looked to reveal the real impact of the six million-plus trees that have so far been planted in the ambitious project to link Liverpool to Hull with trees.
The Northern Forest project kicked off in 2018. Among its aims were to increase the 7.6% tree cover across the north – very low compared to the national average of 13% and way below most counties in the south – by establishing at least 50 million new trees by 2043, to help transform the landscape from Liverpool to the Yorkshire Coast.
It also aimed to lock up tonnes of carbon to fight climate change, reduce the risk of flooding and create more jobs.
It has since expanded through villages, towns and countryside, thanks to a core partnership involving the Woodland Trust and four community forests: Manchester City of Trees, The Mersey Forest, Humber Forest and the White Rose Forest, and the Community Forest Trust.
Key points from the study show that:
- more than 4,000 football pitches of trees have been planted
- 19,000 tonnes of carbon have been locked up by trees planted through the Northern Forest
- an additional 3,500 hectares of new habitat networks have been created for wildlife
- a £43 million annual uplift is flowing from the natural benefits
- 7.5 million more visits to woodland have been seen each year
- 87,500 households within deprived areas now have access to woodland within 500 metres
- a 33% improvement in flood mitigation has been seen across planted sites.