Where do we plant all those trees that everyone thinks will help reduce global warming?

At the last election in Britain, all the main political parties promised the electorate that they would ensure millions of trees were planted. The current government is supporting the planting of 130,000 trees in urban centres (see HERE), using an (unattributed) image of the silver maple trees in Petersfield Square taken by Andy Moffat! In East Hampshire, the District Council has promised to plant a tree for each resident, namely 120,000 trees, over the next few years. However, it is not clear where, in many towns, space can be found to meet these targets – hard infrastructure dominates and green infrastructure is limited in area. The Petersfield Society has now launched a project to explore where in the parish sites can be identified for potential planting. Working jointly with colleagues in the Urban Forest Research Group in Forest Research, Andy Moffat is leading this citizen science project. Further information on the project will be given in later posts – see those in 2021.