As part of the Wokingham Borough Council's target to be carbon neutral by 2030 a commitment was made to plant 250k trees over the next 5 years. "The project will see multiple benefits for our residents including: reducing our carbon footprint, increasing local biodiversity, improving air quality and will establish a long-term initiative for the borough to help tackle the climate emergency. Wokingham Borough Council successfully gained a grant from Woodland Trust in order to support us with our goals so planning for the project has now commenced. We have estimated that around 250ha of land will be required to achieve the carbon sequestration benefits needed to contribute to the boroughs 2030 target. To ensure the long term sustainability of the project we will be ensuring considerations are made for the type of land that is converted to woodland, suitable species selection, including their final spread and size, and the ongoing maintenance requirements. Selecting native British trees will help us reduce the risk of tree disease and failure, thereby creating woodlands and eco systems which will provide the borough with ongoing environmental benefits. While the number of trees planted will allow us to increase our canopy cover over the borough, it is within the soil from which trees grow where the carbon is mostly sequestered, therefore focus will be on the type and size of land converted. As such, our planning process over the next year will allow us to understand which sites are most appropriate for large woodland creation, community orchards or small scale planting".
Great :-) No really, I mean it! 100% behind this! Can I suggest that rather than let Reading University sell Hall Farm for housing WBC step up, take the land off them (since they clearly no longer want to use it for educational purposes) and plant 250,000 trees on it? The land looks to me like it is already doing an excellent job of supporting local tree species! Just add to them.
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