City sees thousands of new trees take root

As we celebrate National Tree Week, Sunderland City Council has revealed that over 7,800 trees were planted in Sunderland over the last year as part of the North East Community Forest project. 

One of 15 Community Forests across England, the North East Community Forest (NECF) is a multi-million-pound project which has seen six local authorities join forces with environmental organisations to plant tens of thousands of trees across the region.  

Since the creation of the North East Community Forest in 2021, Sunderland City Council has secured £869,000 of external funding to plant trees and hedges on 24 separate sites. Through this funding, 25,775 trees and 2.6 kilometres of hedgerow, plus 11 hectares of new wildflower meadow and over 30,000 bulbs, have been planted in parks, schools and open greenspaces. This also includes 340 fruit trees planted across the city, creating seven public orchards at Hetton Park, Silksworth Welfare Park, Princess Anne Park, James Steel Park, Barnes Park, Herrington Welfare Park and Barley Mow Park, as well in the grounds of four schools, so that pupils can enjoy growing their own fruit. 

Over the past 12 months, ten new projects have been delivered in Sunderland, which include the planting of 7,818 trees and 0.9km of hedgerow. In addition, the Council's Environmental Services team has planted 679 replacement street trees this year and is currently replacing a further 230 trees. With Tree Week [23 Nov - 1 Dec], marking the beginning of tree planting season, the Council has announced that further tree and hedgerow planting projects, supported by the North East Community Forest, are to follow soon and will involve at least three local schools and six of the Links with Nature project sites.  

Links with Nature is a £2.2million project linking 13 green spaces in the Coalfield area, restoring nature and helping local residents access and engage with their local wild spaces. The project, which brings together Durham Wildlife Trust, Wear Rivers Trust and Sunderland City Council, is funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, Sunderland City Council, North East Community Forest and Northumbria Water's Bluespaces Programme. 

Cllr Lindsey Leonard, Portfolio holder for environment, transport and net zero, said: "Sunderland's commitment to a greener future has seen the successful planting of over 7,000 new trees across the city in the past 12 months. 

"We still have a long way to go however, which is why, as we reflect on this milestone, we commit to continue growing the North East Community Forest with even more planting commencing in the city over the coming weeks and months. 

"It is a fantastic initiative and one that we are proud, alongside five other local authorities, to be participating in. Once complete, it will see hundreds of thousands of new trees planted across the North East. It's a real collaborative effort which will really improve the lives of people in communities across the region." 

Cllr Leonard added: "Just last month, Sunderland was delighted to be named Global Winner of WWF's One Planet City Challenge (OPCC) alongside Istanbul. Together, programmes like this and the dedication of people across the city are bringing us closer to our goal of being carbon neutral by 2040.  

"The benefits of these efforts also help us to improve air quality, create habitats for wildlife, offer beautiful spaces for residents to enjoy as well as helping us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint, so it is only right that we take opportunities like this to celebrate such achievements and reaffirm our commitment to building a greener future for everyone." 

The North East Community Forest is made up of planting projects across Sunderland, Gateshead, Newcastle, North and South Tyneside, and urban areas of County Durham. In the last year the Forest have planted almost 300,000 trees and 17.4 kilometres of hedgerow with the support of over 2,124 volunteers from local communities across the region. In total, the newly planted trees and hedgerows are estimated to capture approximately 50,872 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the next 30 years.  

To find out more about Sunderland's Tree Canopy visit: Increasing the tree canopy cover in Sunderland - MySunderland 

To view the North East Community Forest's most recent progress report, visit: https://northeastcommunityforest.org.uk/north-east-community-forest-annual-report