UK government announces £79 million for tree planting and nature recovery

LONDON, Sept 30 — Britain's Environment Secretary on Wednesday announced £79 million of new government funding for communities across England to restore nature and adapt to the impacts of climate change, including £53 million for urban and rural tree planting.

The £53 million will be invested between April 2027 and March 2030 to plant up to 500,000 new trees outside woodlands, including on streets, in parks and across rural landscapes, the government said in a statement.

A further £26 million will go to mayors and local authorities to help deliver nature recovery in their area, the statement said.

The government said the funding will cut carbon emissions, support nature recovery and help shield communities from extreme weather such as flooding and heatwaves.

Trees on streets in cities can reduce air temperatures by as much as 4°C, and one mature tree can intercept over 15,000 litres of rainwater a year, according to the statement.

The trees fund will be funded over three years and will be available to organisations in England for urban, peri-urban and rural tree planting projects that sit outside the government's larger woodland creation offers, the notes to the statement said. Strategic Authorities, local authorities, environmental NGOs, farm clusters and National Park Authorities will be eligible.

Further details will be set out in due course, the government said.

The £26 million will be shared across 48 responsible authorities for Local Nature Recovery Strategies, worth around £185,000 per authority per year, the statement said. This year's funding has already been handed to the authorities that have published their strategy.

The government described the strategies as community-owned plans that identify local priorities for environmental improvement, and said they now cover almost the whole of England.