The West Midlands is showing its commitment to the environment by planting trees at a rate of 300 a day.

More than 320,000 have now been registered on the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Virtual Forest – an increase of 120,000 over the past year. The latest figures come as the planet today (Monday June 5) marks the United Nations’ World Environment Day.

Planting new trees and hedgerow is one of the priorities of the West Midlands Natural Environment Plan, which sets out to increase the region’s tree cover from its current 1.5 per cent to 13 per cent.

Increasing the number of trees is a key action in the West Midlands’ #WM2041 drive to become a a net zero region within next two decades.

Since January 2020, the WMCA has been encouraging residents and businesses to make their own contribution by registering the trees they have planted on the Virtual Forest.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA Chair, said: “Since launching our Virtual Forest initiative, we’ve been planting 100,000 trees each and every year right across our region.

“Trees play an important role in helping us to tackle the climate emergency, stay true to our #WM2041 net zero commitment and improve both our biodiversity and the quality of the air we breathe.

“I’ve had the chance to plant some trees myself over the past year during visits we’ve made to communities doing some amazing work to protect, restore and enhance our natural environment for the benefit of us all. So if anyone has planted a tree in the past year and has yet to add it to our Virtual Forest, I would encourage them to do so.”

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA chair, planted a tree during a recent visit to WMCA Community Green Grant recipient Kingstanding Regeneration Trust. He is pictured with Asad Shahzad, a construction and landscaping trainee.

Volunteer group Birmingham Tree People has planted 2,000 trees at the Lickey Hills as part of tree planting activity across the region over the past year.

Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust is continuing to plant thousands of UK-grown native species of local provenance during its WMCA-funded Love Your River Stour project, providing vital pollen, nectar, fruit and habitat for a wide range of birds, small mammals and insects as well as helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Later this year the WMCA will launch the WM Forest Partnership to bring together landowners and people to further support the regions tree planting efforts to help mitigate and adapt to climate change as well as contributing to nature recovery.

In line with the Natural Environment Plan’s ‘right tree, right place’ policy, the WMCA has also commissioned the first region-wide survey to count the exact number of trees, their health, and environmental benefit.

The i-Tree survey, to be undertaken in partnership with Treeconomics, will measure canopy cover across Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull to see exactly where the tree cover is and set a baseline for measuring planned increases over time.

It is being funded by a £300,000 grant given to the WMCA from the Woodland Trust’s Emergency Tree Fund - one of the first projects in the UK to receive support through Amazon’s $100 million Right Now Climate Fund.

A survey already completed in the other four of the WMCA’s seven constituent council areas - Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton - recorded two million trees that collectively remove an estimated 62 tonnes of air pollution and 24,500 tonnes of carbon from the air every year, with 844,000 tonnes of carbon already stored inside the tree population.

Nadine Moreby, from Treeconomics, said: “Trees remove carbon from our air, they filter pollution, reduce flooding, and contribute to our wellbeing. These benefits are incredibly important to society and never more than now, as we face the increasing effects of climate change.

“This i-Tree study will help the WMCA to make valuable decisions about its green infrastructure, helping to ensure that these important resources are valued and maintained for the benefit of future generations.”

Cllr Ian Courts, the WMCA’s portfolio holder for environment and energy, and leader of Solihull Council, added: “The value of trees and hedgerows can never be understated. For example, in Solihull alone the Planting our Future campaign is committed to planting 250,000 trees within 10 years. They play an important part in the natural environment, helping us to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as bringing multiple benefits for people’s physical and mental health, especially in urban areas.

“It’s a great achievement that our region is planting trees at such an impressive rate with 320,000 now registered on our Virtual Forest. This has taken a big effort from all corners of our region and one we will all benefit from for many generations to come. I look forward to seeing the results of the survey to ensure our tree-planting strategy continues to have a positive impact.”

To register a tree on the Virtual Forest go to www.wmvirtualforest.co.uk.