The West Midland Combined Authority’s (WMCA) commitment to the environment blossomed further as a partnership with the Woodland Trust was officially launched at Brookvale Park, Birmingham.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, planted the first tree to celebrate the region being a recipient of £300,000 as part of the Trust’s Emergency Tree Fund to help the region reach their environmental targets alongside representatives of the Woodland Trust, Amazon and WMCA’s environment team.

The funding will be used to identify ways to coordinate different projects and programmes and complete the largest i-Tree Eco study in the UK. It will also prioritise areas in the region with the lowest levels of urban tree canopy cover, the project aims to identify a minimum of eight sites and plant at least 4,000 native trees.

Image caption: Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, with staff from KRT, The Woodland Trust, Amazon, ward councillors and environment staff from WMCA planting the first tree at the trust's site.

The event took place at the home of Kingstanding Regeneration Trust, a registered charity who recently received just over £19,000 from the WMCA as part of the community green grant scheme to transform an area of their park with significant planting and habitat creation.

The Mayor said: "I'm thrilled to launch the West Midlands Forest Partnership alongside the Woodland Trust as we look to further encourage tree planting in the region.

“The £300,000 funding awarded by the Trust will go a long way in supporting our #WM2041 ambition to be a net zero region within the next two decades and further expands the delivery of our Natural Environment Plan to protect, restore and enhance the region’s nature.

“We all know that planting trees is one of the best ways to help tackle the current climate crisis and improve the health and wellbeing of citizens, which is why this partnership is so important. Not only that, but our virtual forest now has more than 280,000 trees registered as we look to accelerate planting across the West Midlands."

The Virtual Forest was launched in January 2020 to help the WMCA keep track of the trees being planted and to encourage everyone in the region to play their part and getting involved in making the West Midlands Greener Together. 

Ultimately, the WMCA aims to increase the region’s forestry cover by 13% - the equivalent of planting an additional 5.7 million trees by 2026 – supporting its #WM2041 ambition to be a net zero region within the next two decades.

The funding is one of six awards being made around the UK from the Woodland Trust's Emergency Tree Fund following £2.1 million of support from Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund. The money will be awarded in grants to local authorities across the country, planting 450,000 trees and creating green spaces in local communities most impacted by pollution and with least access to nature.

Toby Bancroft, the Woodland Trust’s regional director for central England, said: “We were delighted that the WMCA is benefiting from our Emergency Tree Fund and great to see real action happening on the ground. These trees will be vital for the area, and the country’s, fight against climate change, as well as ensuring more people can benefit from trees where they live and work.

“Although as charity we plant hundreds of thousands of trees each planting season, we need partnerships such as this to make an even bigger difference.”

Cllr Ian Courts, WMCA portfolio lead for the environment, energy and HS2 and leader of Solihull Council, said: “Planting trees is one of the best methods we have to mitigate the impact of climate change and of course has the additional benefit of providing attractive green spaces that will also benefit future generations.

“The Virtual Forest has now planted just shy of 280,000 trees, which is a fantastic achievement. Here in Solihull we’re planting around 25,000 trees a year, with the aim of planting a quarter of a million trees within the decade.

“The establishment of the West Midlands Forest Partnership is an important milestone as we continue to expand the great work that is being done across the region to protect our local and global environment”