Edinburgh City Council has announced that they will plant one million trees by the end of the decade to become a ‘Million Tree City.’
The Million Tree City initiative refers to the ongoing environmental projects that New York, Shanghai, London, Los Angeles and now Edinburgh have committed to in order to increase the urban forest by planting one million trees.
Following the approval of a report by the culture and communities committee, Edinburgh council will draw up an action plan to achieve the one million tree target in the city.
The project will include tree planting opportunities on both public and private land, via new developments and to replace trees lost to age, disease and damage.
An Edinburgh Million Tree Forum will be set up to bring together principle stakeholders and to find new ways to plant trees quickly and efficiently.
The forum will also set annual tree-planting targets, with the number of trees that are planted being publically reported on an on-going basis.
Culture and communities convener Cllr Donald Wilson, said: ‘We’re so proud that Edinburgh is already the UK’s greenest city, but we want to and must- do even better, especially as we strive towards our hugely ambitious target of making the city carbon neutral by 2030.
‘By joining the cohort of Million Tree Cities, we’ll be able to substantially reduce carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to lessen the impact of climate change.
‘It’s going to require a huge amount of dedicated partnership but I know we collectively have both the will and the capacity to reach the million tree target if we all pull together.’
‘It’s impossible to overstate the benefits trees bring to the urban landscape.
‘They help to clean our air, reduce the risk of flooding, keep us cool in the summer and warmer in winter, they give wildlife a home in our city, and they make our neighbourhoods look and feel more tranquil and appealing.’
Earlier this year (January 14), the National Trust announced plans to become the UK’s biggest woodland expansion, planting 20 million trees over the next ten years.