Coventry City Council have recently been awarded £294,915 from the Forestry Commission’s Local Authority Treescapes Fund to the plant 151 semi-mature trees and 7068 whips in 10 Wards across Coventry. 3600 of these whips will be planted as Tiny Forests. This project is in partnership with Citizen Housing and Earthwatch Europe, with opportunities for local people to help with the planting.
Tiny Forests are dense, fast-growing native woodlands, about the size of a tennis court. These trees capture carbon from the atmosphere, absorb pollution, help with urban cooling by providing shade, provide much-needed homes for urban wildlife and create visually diverse green spaces for local communities to enjoy.
Each of these forests will be designed by, cared for and enjoyed by the local community. Under the careful management of ‘Tree Keeper’ volunteers, communities can water, weed and care for their local forests. The Council’s Ecology team has started to design the forests with local residents through community drop-in days and a survey on the Let’s Talk Coventry website.
There is more information here.