The Mayor of London Boris Johnson today announced that 2,000 new street trees are to be planted across 19 boroughs this spring thanks to funding from City Hall.
The successful boroughs have been offered funding in the first round of planting to help deliver the Mayor's promise to provide 10,000 new trees in residential areas by March 2015. This will double the number of street trees already funded during his first mayoral term.
The Mayor is seeking to increase tree cover in London by five per cent by 2025 to help make London a more attractive city to live, work and invest in. Trees provide a range of benefits including helping to improve local air quality and reduce flood risk, providing shade and offering a haven for wildlife.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Street trees deliver a whole host of benefits for Londoners helping to improve the look and feel of neighbourhoods as well as making the capital a more attractive place to live and invest in. My first 10,000 street trees are a flourishing success and I am delighted to announce this latest crop of areas to receive funds for more trees by spring-time."
Under the Mayor's street tree scheme, which is delivered in partnership with the Forestry Commission and Groundwork London, local boroughs, community groups and charities can apply for funding from a pot of £1.7m to plant street trees. Recipients work with the community to identify areas where local people most want trees, and many of the successful applicants have taken into account planting requests from members of the public made during the Mayor's previous street tree programme completed in his first term.
The next round of the Mayor's street tree initiative will open for applications in spring 2013.
Notes to editors
The latest batch of trees will be planted by the spring in the following boroughs: Barking and Dagenham (190), Bexley (59), Brent (200), Camden (132), City of Westminster (100), Ealing (210), Enfield (200), Hackney (15), Hammersmith and Fulham (115), Haringey (60), Harrow (80), Havering (100), Hillingdon (50), Hounslow (15), Islington (189), Lewisham (35), Redbridge (55), Southwark (65), Tower Hamlets (132). Please note - these figures are estimates subject to further planning work such as consultations with local people and detailed investigations of streets to be planted.
The Mayor’s street tree initiative, delivered in partnership with the Forestry Commission, is open to all London boroughs and private landowners who own or manage public realm (including businesses, registered social landlords, etc). It is also open to civil society organisations and community groups working with or on behalf of boroughs and private landowners. For more information or to apply for a grant under the street tree initiative visit: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/environment/greening-london/releaf-…
The London regional office of Forestry Commission works in partnership with a range of national, regional and local bodies to promote and secure the benefits which trees and woodlands offer to London. These benefits include a place for recreation, a place to observe wildlife, a source of woodland products and a contribution to the landscape whether this is in local woodlands or in parks and residential streets.
As a charity, Groundwork London works alongside local communities, public bodies, private companies and other voluntary sector organisations to support communities in need. They have more than twenty-five years’ experience of delivering bespoke projects that use the environment as a catalyst for building a more sustainable future.