The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has kick-started his programme to make London one of the greenest cities in the world by delivering £750,000 to plant more than 40,000 new trees across the capital.
Over the next two months a range of organisations – including Trees for Cities and Groundwork London – and thousands of volunteers will plant trees in every London borough.
New trees planted this winter will include apple trees in a new orchard in Redbridge, black poplars and oaks in Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets, while busy main roads in Hillingdon will have trees planted on streets to help combat traffic emissions and boost air quality.
The Deputy Mayor for Environment, Shirley Rodrigues, recently held a Tree Summit with key organisations to discuss ways to work closely to increase the tree canopy in London and plant thousands of trees over the next four years.
The Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “I want London to be one of the world’s greenest cities which is why I’ve prioritised this funding to kick-start the delivery of thousands of new trees and to protect and enhance our much-loved green spaces.
“Trees improve our environment and help clean up our toxic air, so despite inheriting no budget from my predecessor, I have worked fast to start a new planting programme and deliver the first batch of more than 40,000 saplings this winter.
“This is the first step in my plans for a major tree-planting programme across London in partnership with businesses and boroughs. I remain fully committed to ensuring that hundreds of thousands of new trees are planted over the next four years.”
Projects across London bid for grants last December and successful schemes were awarded funding this week. Many of the trees are allocated to brighten residential streets, boost air quality on busy main roads and maintain London’s many local parks, often as a result of residents’ requests.
Other areas receiving new trees include seven residential estates in Hammersmith & Fulham, a community orchard in Southwark, streets in Brent, Croydon, Havering and Lewisham, parks in Tottenham, and woodlands in Ealing and Barking and Dagenham.
Notes to editors
- Across the 26 projects, nearly 42,000 trees will be planted. The costs involved will include buying the trees and other activity, such as planting and landscaping.
- The funding is being delivered under a one-year tree-planting programme. The GLA is currently developing plans for a tree programme for 2017-2020 and will announce further details later this year.
- More information about the Mayor’s tree planting programme 2016-2017 can be found at: http://www.london.gov.uk/WHAT-WE-DO/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiversity/trees-and-woodlands/tree-planting-grants.