Dr Luke Evans, MP for Bosworth, has said he is pleased to see the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced an expansion to the Community Forest and Woodland Creation Partnership which will deliver around 2,300 hectares of trees (the equivalent of around 3,220 football pitches).
Below is a letter from Lord Zac Goldsmith MP, the Minister of State for the Environment, on this news.
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I am delighted to inform you that your local Woodland Creation Partnership – the National Forest is set to benefit from nearly £2.5 million to plant more trees this year in your constituency and across the wider region.
The funding to expand the Community Forests and Woodland Creation Partnerships is part of the Government’s £750 million Nature for Climate Fund which is supporting our ambitions to treble tree planting rates by the end of this Parliament.
As we announced on Friday 5 August, Community Forests and Woodland Creation Partnerships will deliver around 2,300 hectares of trees – equivalent to around 3,220 football pitches - by March next year thanks to the £44.2 million of funding.
It is estimated the planting will see 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide absorbed by 2050 valued at nearly £100 million. It will also deliver wider environmental, biodiversity and social benefits worth over £30 million by 2050.
The Nature for Climate Fund is helping these projects to expand woodlands near our cities, towns, villages and rivers - giving more people greater access to nature and improving health and wellbeing. The expansion of these important Partnerships will create new woodlands which will help to reduce flood risk, increase sustainable UK grown timber production and create new jobs within the forestry and environmental sector.
I encourage you to visit the National Forest and continue to support the partnership’s work to create and expand this important local green space, which will hopefully soon become a haven for both wildlife and people.