Agenda item

Alan Wardle to Present

The Adaptation and Resilience Advisor submitted the undernoted report providing an update on the launch of the one million trees project.

“1.0     Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1            The purpose of this report is to update Members on Belfast City Council’s One Million Trees initiative.

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

i)    note the contents of the report.

3.0       Main Report

               3.1       Background:

Belfast City Council’s One Million Trees initiative was launched in November 2020 and is committed to supporting the planting of one million trees, within Belfast, by 2035.

3.2       The initiative is delivered through the Climate Team and engages with partners from the private, community/voluntary, and statutory sectors and maintains internal partnerships within Belfast City Council, to support the objectives of the initiative. The objectives of One Million Trees Initiative are to:

1.          Create an inclusive structure and processes which enable tree planting and the growth of green infrastructure and biodiversity in Belfast;

2.          Plant at least one million trees within the next 15 years – delivering a step change in our approach to climate adaptation and environmental improvements; and

3.          Protect the city and the people of the city by increasing carbon capture, reducing harm from air pollution, weather impact and loss of nature and improving health and well-being.

3.3       The core funding for the programme is through the Woodland Trust’s Emergency Tree Fund (details below), which is due to end May 2024. A key priority for the Climate Team is to secure additional funds to support both Council’s ongoing commitment to deliver by 2035, and the excellent work of our delivery partners, primarily The Woodland Trust, and Belfast Hills Partnership.

3.4       The Million Trees Partnership is made up of 21 partners who will be brought together in October/November to review progress to date and to identify the key priorities for the next phase of the programme so that funding can be sought and secured.

3.5       The funding has supported the delivery of the iTree Eco Report, as well as the Belfast Tree Strategy  (recently delivered by City and Neighbourhood Services). It has also allowed for the delivery of volunteer coordination, community outreach and support for PR and communication, working with the Belfast Hills Partnership since the last planting season and will continue up do so up to May 2024. Whilst also coordinating physical planting of trees and hedgerows, Belfast Hills delivers school engagements, across the city, to educate and introduce young people to the benefits of trees and also introduce the conversation around climate change and city resilience.

3.6       In the 2023/2024 financial year, Belfast Hills will:

·     engage with 8 primary schools, where trees and hedgerows will be planted by pupils;

·     deliver 10 Woodland Workshops, to educate and inform residents, in such things as; seed collection hedgerow laying, foraging, badger surveying and storytelling, amongst other topics;

·     engage and work with 6 Youth Centres, in partnership with the Education Authority, to allow young adults to engage in the climate conversation, through the installation of the ‘Forest in a Box’ project, which will be used to create nature spaces for the benefit of users;

·     coordinate 6 woodland walks across the city, to again educate around woodland preservation and environmental impacts on precious natural resource; and

·     BHP will also coordinate a number of volunteer activities, which will include maintenance and management of existing sites and also the planting of new sites.

3.7       These activities delivered within the upcoming planting season will cumulatively plant 5,700 trees across Belfast.

3.8       One Million Trees reports quarterly to the Woodland Trust on progress, both on financial and physical activity. The Emergency Tree Fund is currently in the second quarter of it’s last year of funding the Million Trees Programme.

3.9       Reporting for the last financial year includes tree numbers from all our statutory, private and internal partners, which culminated in 28,813 trees being planted in the 2022/2023 season (Oct-April) to include hedgerow planting.

3.10     In total 92,313 trees have been planted in Belfast through this project. In the upcoming planting season, it is estimated that there is potential to plant between 80,000 and 100,000 trees, however some of these sites are still to be confirmed and the new Belfast Tree Strategy should provide the basis for these to come forward in the coming planting seasons.  To achieve this goal, it will however require continued positive working both internally and externally with other partners and a secure tree supply to be confirmed.

4.0       Financial and Resource Implications

4.1       None.

5.0       Equality or Good Relations Implications/

Rural Needs Assessment

5.1       There are no Equality or Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Assessment requirements.”

            The Members noted the information provided and recognised the valuable societal contribution associated with the one million tree project and the benefits of community engagement, including schools and youth and community organisations in that programme.