London plan plants ring of trees around the capital
Ten million people could gain from a greener and cooler city through a new project to reconnect wilder spaces.
An ambitious initiative aims to encircle the city with a two hundred kilometer green corridor along outer borough boundaries. The charity CPRE London designs this plan to safeguard greenbelt areas and boost biodiversity in neglected woodland pockets.
Over the next twenty five years, community groups and schools will be invited to find new sites and plant trees. Landowners are also joining forces to care for green spaces while finding new locations for planting efforts.
In one example on the south west border, workers revived hedgerows by planting fifteen hundred trees including disease resistant elm. This species was almost wiped out decades ago but serves as the sole food source for specific butterfly caterpillars.
Meanwhile in Sutton, children created a microforest using a Japanese method that involves densely planting native trees into enriched soil. The team worked with council wardens to establish this forest despite dry conditions and limited irrigation requirements.
“In return, there's a whole range of benefits that trees will bring, from urban cooling to fixing carbon to community orchards.”