Latest news with #treeplanting
BBC News
19 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Newport: Quarter of Welsh city to be covered by 'urban forest'
A quarter of a Welsh city will be covered by tree canopies within 10 years due to a new plan to boost its "urban forest". Almost 30,000 trees will be planted in Newport to supplement about 250,000 existing trees. Wales was the first country in the world to measure its urban tree council hopes these trees and others planted by private developers and landowners will take canopy cover in Newport - which at 18% had the highest proportion of any Welsh city in 2016 - to 25%. Joanne Gossage, service manager for environment and leisure at Newport council said the city had "green oasis" said: "We feel that Newport is a very green city and we don't think it's too far of a stretch to get to that 25%."People's perception of an urban forest is something dark, perhaps menacing and dingy. It's not. It's about trees making attractive frameworks in limited open space, it can be in a street, creating a good shady habitat above people's heads."The economic benefit of planting green infrastructure has a direct link to people wanting to be in a place - to live, for recreation or to visit." Using nationwide aerial photography, canopy spread in Wales was mapped across towns and cities, with the results published in 2016. Natural Resources Wales found Newport had 18% canopy cover, compared with 17.4% in both Swansea and Wrexham, and 15.4% in Cardiff. Newport alone estimates its current urban forest is worth £2.2m a year to the city and stores 76,000 tonnes of council said it would grow trees on its own land, but hoped private developers and landowners would do the same to add to the city's canopy cover. Newport resident Daniel Key, 37, said "it would be lush" to have a quarter of the city covered by canopies. He said: "It's a really built up city, quite run down at the moment, with a lot of boarded up houses and businesses gone, it's very much a car city, it would be nice to have more trees, for cleaner air."As long as they're thinking about jobs as well, locally, I'll be all for it." Some of the most important green infrastructure are street trees, which Ms Gossage said acted like a "green lung above people's heads".More than a third of all the trees in the city are in residential areas, with the most common species being Leyland cypress, birch and Gossage said increasing canopy cover would have a cooling effect, help prevent flooding, improve biodiversity and help people's health and said: "We are making this happen with very small resources internally."We are not having a big ask on the council's budge because we are being inventive and adventurous, looking for money outside of our own budget."
Associated Press
a day ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Kinect Solar Launches 'Kinect Cares' Initiative to Empower People, Give Back to Communities and Protect the Planet
The inaugural initiative will plant a tree for every full truckload that leaves one of Kinect Solar's 50+ US warehouses. AUSTIN, TEXAS / ACCESS Newswire / June 2, 2025 / Kinect Solar LLC, a leading solar managed services solutions provider, today announced the launch of Kinect Cares, a company-wide charitable giving initiative. Kinect Cares is dedicated to reducing the company's carbon footprint and giving back to local communities, in line with Kinect Solar's mission to drive meaningful change for people, communities and the planet. 'Sustainability is at the core of everything we do at Kinect Solar,' said Nikole Newman, Kinect Solar's chief revenue officer. 'We're pleased to formalize our commitment to the planet through this ongoing initiative. It's steered by a committee of Kinect Solar team members who are truly passionate about this work.' The first official Kinect Cares initiative will plant a tree for every full truckload that leaves a Kinect Solar warehouse. The tree planting will be facilitated through Conservation International, where Kinect Solar is currently an Emerald Circle-level member. More initiatives are in the works, including a solar pallet recycling program, disaster relief support and solar panel donations to promote sustainability. Kinect Cares will also focus on giving back to local communities. Kinect Solar has previously made contributions to Keep Austin Beautiful as well as Austin's Habitat for Humanity ReStore. As part of Kinect Cares, employees will be further empowered to give back to their local communities by volunteering for projects and causes they are passionate about. More information about Kinect Cares: Drives community engagement by organizing and participating in local service projects in the neighborhoods where our employees live Supports environmental sustainability by initiating and supporting conservation efforts such as tree planting, recycling and clean energy campaigns to protect and preserve local resources and ecosystems Empowers employees to make the kind of difference on an individual level that Kinect Solar strives to make at an organizational level About Kinect Solar Kinect Solar has been pioneering B2B solutions for large-scale solar manufacturers and developers in the US solar market for more than a decade, with managed solar service solutions tailored to today's fast-paced solar industry. Founded in 2015 by Lauren Carson, Kinect Solar is a privately held, woman-owned small business headquartered in Austin, Texas. Kinect Solar is committed to leading with integrity and sustainability. By combining innovation with teamwork, the company aims to inspire action and create lasting impact for future generations. For more information, visit Contact Information Brian Hunter Director of Marketing [email protected] SOURCE: Kinect Solar press release
BBC News
3 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Northern Ireland's green shoots: How to save native woodlands one seed at a time
When it comes to protecting the future of one of Northern Ireland's only native woodlands, a surprising amount of demolition work has to happen before you can really see the wood for the trees. That's why a huge project - that could span decades into the future - has been digging, scything and excavating to keep invasive alien species at bay along a crucial woodland corridor stretching from Belfast to Bangor. Museums NI and the Woodland Trust have teamed up to remove 1,200 tonnes - the equivalent of 700 cars - of aggressive invasive species like rhododendron and cherry laurel, a thick shrub with poisonous cyanide-laced leaves, from a site near the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Thousands of native trees are now being planted to replace them. It's part of an effort to preserve one of the few areas of native woodland in Northern Ireland. As the least wooded corner of Europe, Northern Ireland has only about 8% forest cover, compared to the 40% European less than 0.5% of Northern Ireland's forest cover is made up of native woodland, which is why the aim of this project is to plant more than 2,500 native trees at the site. What's the threat to Northern Ireland's woodland? Jerry Hawe, from the Woodland Trust, told BBC News NI that "so much of our semi-natural woodland is vastly depleted". "It's less than half a percent of our land area and, unfortunately, the remaining woodlands face a whole range of challenges. "Probably first among these would be the challenge from invasive exotic species."Over the last few decades, the woodland at the folk museum has suffered a "heavy infestation" of cherry laurel and rhododendron - both "very aggressive" invasive species. The scale of the infestation means native species aren't able to naturally regenerate, meaning the future of the forest is "by no means secure"."In order for these woodlands to support the full range of associated species, flora and fauna, then the more native we can make them, the better."The Woodland Trust will provide advice to Museums NI on how to manage and maintain the woodland as it matures to ensure natives such as hazel, birch and oak are prioritised. Clearing all the invasive species from the site at the folk museum began in clearance resulted in 1,290 tonnes of green waste, which was then converted to renewable energy through biomass to help fund the planting of more than 2,500 trees at the site over the next few years. The first phase of this is already underway, with 550 trees planted in an area larger than four football pitches.A single oak tree can support thousands of species, and is effectively an ecosystem in and of itself, "so you can imagine what happens then when you amplify that", said Niamh Carmichael from the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR). Project success 'could take 120 years' Ms Carmichael described the woodland at the folk museum as a "really important ecological corridor", adding that invasive species are a "significant cause of biodiversity loss globally". Ms Carmichael said many invasive species were brought here during the Victorian era, when there was a "particular fascination" with the natural world but much less understanding of it. "New species were accidently or deliberately introduced to habitats with conditions not really built for them."The majority of them tend not to do terribly well, but there are, unfortunately, some that are nearly a wee bit too good at surviving."She said it could take about 120 years for the woodland to fully mature and for the ecosystem to rebalance. However, making sure that happens is a huge, long-term job."With the invasives, you have to keep at it, because you could clear all of the invasive species off the site, but they could then come back in accidentally on a tyre track, or some of the wildlife could accidentally bring it in."It's our responsibility to make sure those invasives never take hold again." Green shoots for Northern Ireland's trees While this project offers a glimmer of hope through the trees, there is still a long way to go to hit climate targets for tree planting. Under the Forests for our Future scheme launched in 2020, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) committed to planting 18 million trees over 10 years, meaning 10 trees would be planted for every person living in Northern five years later, the department's afforestation programme has planted about 4.5 million trees or 2,300 hectares. In a statement, the department said it recognised that "the annual tree planting rates needed to increase incrementally over the decade from the 200 hectares per year, when the programme launched, to achieve the 9,000 hectare target".Similarly, a recent Belfast City Council meeting revealed a lack of progress on the One Million Trees project – which started strong, but is now 220,000 trees behind schedule. Nevertheless, Ms Carmichael said that "in the face of the biodiversity and climate crisis", the early signs of recovery at this project is "a reminder that nature can bounce back, when given the chance". "It's a hopeful sign of what's still possible."
CBC
5 days ago
- General
- CBC
Forests Canada says its on track to plant its 50 millionth tree this year
Social Sharing The organization Forests Canada says it's on track to reach its goal of planting 50 million trees by the end of this year. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty made that pledge in 2007, saying that figure would be reached by 2025. Forests Canada CEO Jess Kaknevicius says its efforts are in addition to trees planted after logging operations, which are legally required under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. "So the 50-million tree program is outside of any legally obligated area," she said. Forests Canada's goals are to plant more trees in what it calls "settled landscapes," which include shelter belts around farmland. "People want to contribute to wildlife habitat, people want to contribute to [fighting] climate change, and they want to leave a legacy for the next generation," Kaknevicius said. She said Forests Canada relies on funding from different levels of government, along with donations to fund its tree-planting efforts. Kaknevicius said she estimates that trees planted by logging companies under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act are also in the millions each year. A tree planter's perspective Autumn Ducharme is a first-time tree planter who helps with those efforts at a rate of pay of around 13 cents per tree. Ducharme said she has worked at small organic farms, so the transition to tree planting in the northern Ontario bush near Sault Ste. Marie was a natural one. "I was working for small family-run businesses and they only have so much wiggle room in their profit margin," she said. "So yeah, I was interested in a job that had the potential of paying a little bit better." Ducharme said that while some days can be quite cold, especially if it's raining, she loves spending her time working outside. "I would not in a million years take a nine-to-five office job," she said. "Like no way." She said she appreciates the trees she plants also make a difference to the surrounding landscape. "When they're not cut for wood, they're still cleaning our air," Ducharme said.
CBC
6 days ago
- General
- CBC
Vancouver approves updated plan for city's urban forest
Vancouver is aiming to cover nearly a third of the city in trees by 2050, up from the 22 per cent proposed in 2018 — the last time the city updated its strategy. This commitment comes amidst challenges posed by development and climate change, as well as ongoing inequity issues around tree distribution in the city. Stephen Quinn, the host of CBC's The Early Edition, discusses the plan with Joe McLeod, the city's associate director of parks responsible for urban forestry.
