New plan to grow ‘urban forest’ to 25% of city in next decade

Nicholas Thomas Local Democracy Reporter

A quarter of a Welsh city and its surroundings will be covered by trees in ten years’ time, the city council has pledged.

Thousands more trees will be planted across Newport to add to the current green areas, woodlands and parks which make up its “urban forest”.

The council, which has its own climate change action plan, wants to increase the tree cover in Newport to 25% by 2035 – that’s an increase of around 7% based on previous estimates.

It believes more trees can help it reach its environmental goals through benefits such as carbon capture and air filtration.

The council also argues trees can lead to “numerous” other bonuses to Newport – including higher property values, cooler neighbourhoods in the summer months, and “more favourable” shopping areas.

Report

According to a new report, potential funding streams for this major tree-planting commitment are the council’s own coffers and a range of external sources including the Welsh Government, National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the Woodland Trust.

Cllr Yvonne Forsey, the city’s cabinet member for climate change, has approved the adoption of a new Tree Cover Regeneration Strategy for Newport.

It will come into effect later this week, once a call-in period has expired.

Writing in the report on the new strategy, she called climate change and biodiversity “two of the biggest challenges of our time”.

Cllr Forsey said it was “vital” the city and its council were “on the right track to meet our commitments to the residents and environment of Newport, for this generation and future generations”.

Praise

The cabinet member praised the work of Newport’s “many” environmental groups “who are attempting to move us towards a more sustainable life”.

“Trees are important because of the carbon they capture, the contribution to air quality they make, the shade they provide and the improvements to appearance of our living spaces, as well as supporting biodiversity,” said Cllr Forsey.

“Increasing the tree canopy is fundamental to these aims.”

The publication of the new tree strategy follows a recent report on the council’s progress against its wider climate change targets.

Speaking at a recent cabinet meeting, Cllr Forsey said Newport was ranked as the best authority for emissions and had recorded a 9.7% reduction in the past year (excluding procurement).

She also told colleagues the council had the nation’s greenest vehicles – with 55% of its non-plant fleet now electric – and said another 110 public electric vehicle chargers installed in Newport last year made the city the area with the best on-street coverage in Wales.