When it comes to green spaces and enjoying nature, it’s not just the countryside we need to head to.
Many of Britain’s towns and cities have fabulous parks, nature reserves and woodland areas and on Thursday climate conference COP26 will look at how cities can be more involved in addressing climate change.
The planting of trees will likely be a huge part of that and positive changes are already being made with The National Trust having raised more than £1.2million for tree planting in a single year.
The charity’s Plant a Tree fundraising campaign received more than 60,000 donations in just 13 months and the trust is planting and establishing 20 million trees on its estates by 2030 as part of a net zero commitment.
With an average cost of £5 a tree, this means that, in a single year, the public alone has funded 300,000 trees across the UK - a big step towards funding the charity’s plans to plant over two million trees over the next couple of years.
“I am absolutely overwhelmed with the support we have received,” Director General Hilary McGrady said. “Healing climate harm is a fight we are all in together - and one we can only win by remaining united. Tree planting commitments are currently very popular, which is fantastic, but there is a cost associated and to plant and manage them for their lifecycle, especially in urban areas, can be expensive.
“This is why this incredible support is so invaluable in the fight against climate change, creating homes for nature and – something that has become more needed than ever in the last two years – boosting public access to nature.”
The conservation charity currently cares for more than 10 million trees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and looks after one of the largest populations of ancient and veteran trees in the world.
However, England has one of the lowest levels of woodland cover (10%) relative to the rest of the UK as well as parts of Europe – with an ambition to reach 12% by 2060.
The National Trust is aiming for 17% of tree cover on its land and is encouraging Government to do the same.
Here author Claire Bradbury writes about the importance of planting trees, espeically in built-up areas, towns and cities:
“If there was a supplement for nature, we would have been prescribed it long ago. But there’s no pill to substitute the nourishment that comes from time spent in greenspace.
Emerging loud and clear from COP26, the Glaswegian-hosted UN climate summit, is the need to halt the catastrophic loss of forests and woodlands, our planet’s ecological lungs. To stay the climate emergency, we need more of the right trees in the right places – and soon.
Thankfully organisations like the National Trust, which has committed to plant 20 million trees by 2030 are leading the charge in the UK.
Trees don’t just underpin a low carbon world; they are critical to the health and wellbeing of our communities and wildlife. Nowhere is this truer than in cities, where inequality of access to greenspace has been thrown into sharp relief since the pandemic. It’s apt then that the National Trust has set the city in its sights with its urban blossom gardens; a remedy for access to nature that is as practical as it is beautiful.
Time in nature can boost our mood, ease stress, lower blood pressure and improve focus.
Greenspaces don’t only offer fatigued city-dwellers respite from the freneticism of urban life; they also insulate us against the worst impacts of extreme weather, purify our air and water, and offer welcome homes and feeding grounds for our beloved wildlife (including insects and pollinators, whose numbers are in steep decline).
Our collective yearning for the comfort and beauty of nature is unsurprising in these precarious times. We seek the contented calm that comes from stepping into a leafy woodland or park in bloom because these landscapes are a tonic for the harsh lines, noise and muted palette of the city.
Blossom gardens, wildflower meadows, community allotments, and their kin, show that even the most pint-sized greenspaces can spark joy, curiosity and hope.
The National Trust shows us that creating inclusive, climate-positive futures goes hand in hand with wild, contemplative spaces. By all accounts the cities we want are replete with nature and, fortunately, the power of trees is quiet yet potent.
Planted sensitively, where communities and wildlife need them most, they stand ready to rewild our homes and hearts, restore lost habitats, and actively nurture our health and wellbeing.”
Claire Bradbury is a sustainable futures specialist and author of Dwellbeing: Finding Home in the City, published by Flint Books, October 2021.
To find out how to get involved visit the National Trust Woodlands Appeal page.
Plant a tree for free
We’re giving you the chance to join the fight against climate change by helping us to plant trees for free on a beautiful National Trust estate – and you can dedicate them to a friend or a loved one.
The National Trust aims to plant and establish 20 million trees by 2030 and by dedicating your tree today you will help fulfil this goal.
You will also receive a certificate confirming your contribution, which can be given to the person you have dedicated the tree to as a keepsake.
There are five beautiful National Trust estates to choose from around the country where you can have your tree planted.
So don’t miss out… help the National Trust to plant and establish native, British trees and help tackle climate change today.
How to claim
Simply visit www.mirror.co.uk/nationaltrust and fill out the form to take part in the campaign.
Offer closes on Friday, November 12, 2021 or when all trees have been allocated.
This offer provides the reader with a tree dedicated to them or the person they choose which is planted on a National Trust estate by the National Trust. Find out more about their planting work at www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Terms and conditions: Offer closes on Friday November 12, 2021, or when all 25,000 trees have been allocated. Trees will be planted at the National Trust location selected. All trees remain the property of the NT for preservation purposes. Exact tree locations on each estate cannot be provided and normal visiting terms and conditions of the NT apply for each location. PDF certificates will be issued via the email address provided. For full terms and conditions see mirror.co.uk/nationaltrust
