Hundreds of thousands of trees to be planted across Essex
Great Notley residents planted 150 trees in 36 minutes earlier this year. Photo: PAUL STARR Photographer. - Credit: PAUL STARR Photographer
A total of 375,000 trees will be planted across the county over the next five years according to Essex County Council.
This year's first tree planting initiative was a success. Photo: PAUL STARR Photographer. - Credit: PAUL STARR Photographer
ECC’s first community tree planting took place in Great Notley Country Park before the lockdown, and hundreds of residents turned out to help plant trees as part of the Essex Forest Initiative.
The community managed to finish the challenge in just over half an hour. A spokesperson for ECC said: “More than 300 residents planted 150 trees in just 36 minutes, demonstrating the enthusiasm local people have for improving their local environment and their desire to help tackle climate change.”
The event comes following the launch of the EFI at the end of last year.
Councillor Simon Walsh, ECC’s cabinet member for environment, said: “Tackling climate change is everyone’s responsibility and it was fantastic to see so many people of all ages ready and willing to help us with our tree planting efforts.
John Meehan, environment team manager at ECC, shows residents how to plant a tree. Photo: PAUL STARR Photographer. - Credit: PAUL STARR Photographer
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“We were overwhelmed by the response we saw, so much that we ran out of trees to plant.
“Clearly tackling climate change is at the forefront of people’s minds, and I look forward to many more community planting events in the future, as residents help us to create the Essex Forest.”
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The EFI comes after a series of measures taken by the county council towards tackling the environmental crisis.
Last year, Cllr David Finch announced the introduction of the Essex Climate Action Commission, an independent, cross-party group, who will investigate actions ECC can undertake to reduce both its own and the county’s carbon emissions and promote green infrastructure across Essex.
More than 300 local people gathered to help with the first tree planting of the Essex Forest Initiative. Photo: PAUL STARR Photographer - Credit: PAUL STARR Photographer
The county council has also recently approved a £5million fund to support its environmental actions, as part of ECC’s 2020-2021 budget.
Councillor Simon Walsh. Photo: PAUL STARR Photographer. - Credit: PAUL STARR Photographer
