Surrey County Council has worked with residents and community groups to plant over 36,000 new trees across the county. The council remains on track to plant 1.2 million trees by 2030, marking one for every resident.
Since the launch of the initiative in 2019, over 510,744 trees have now been planted across the county. This year, 1952 metres of new hedgerows have been planted during this year’s tree planting season, offering habitats for wildlife. A range of community projects have also been undertaken to support our ambitions to improve air quality and biodiversity. These include:
A group of 180 community members came together to plant over 7300 hedgerow trees at Bocketts Farm to support birds, mammals and other wildlife.
42 trees were donated to Bronzefield Women’s Prison in Ashford and the tree Planting and Establishment team delivered a workshop to those women who were undertaking horticultural qualifications.
2625 native broadleaf trees were planted in The Priory C of E School in Dorking using an experimental planting technique, Miyawaki/Tiny Forest. This technique of dense tree planting restores naturally occurring native species and speeds up natural ecological succession.
The new webpages have also been developed to include an interactive tree map, tree planting advice and tips for how residents can get involved. More details are available here.
Marisa Heath, Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for the Environment, said,
“I’m delighted that we are progressing our ambition to plant 1.2 million new trees in Surrey as we work to both meet net zero targets but also make our county as green and beautiful as possible."
“This is not something we can deliver alone and we will continue to work with our partners and communities to achieve this target. I encourage residents to visit our new webpages to find out how they can get involved.“