Coventry City Council just joined the Trees for Streets national scheme!
Coventry is one of the local authority areas where Trees for Cities has been working for a number of years, and so joining the Trees for Streets scheme was the natural next step.
This project builds on the council’s existing work to make the city greener, more liveable and a place where nature can thrive. Some recent initiatives include:
- more than 16,000 native species trees including Oak and Field Maple planted in the Longford, Allesley and Henley areas of the city
- planting a tree for every person that lives in Coventry by 2032 – last year approx. 20,000 trees were planted towards this goal.
Cllr Patricia Hetherton, Cabinet Member for City Services said: “We’re excited to join the Trees for Streets national scheme, and make it easier for residents, organisations and businesses to get involved and support tree planting in all areas of Coventry.
There is plenty of scope for street tree planting across the whole city, so we hope that locals will really take this scheme to heart and take the opportunity to green their streets.
I especially hope that communities will see this as a way of working together to green their neighbourhoods. Trees are good for our physical and mental health, and street trees help to provide a daily connection to nature on our doorstep.
Patricia Hetherton
Cabinet Member for City Services, Coventry City Council
Why are street trees important?
Street trees do so much for us:
- improve air quality by acting like natural filters
- capture carbon dioxide and produce oxygen
- absorb air pollution
- improve our health and wellbeing – both physically and mentally
- provide a home for wildlife
- protect us from flooding
- create shading and cooling – so important in towns and cities
- make the neighbourhoods where we live that bit nicer
The Trees for Streets online app makes it easy for anyone to sponsor a tree in their neighbourhood by making a request to their local council, empowering people to take an active role in greening their streets.
Residents can choose to sponsor a tree in their own street, or in their neighbourhood. The council then checks if the location is suitable, and if it is, arrangements are made to plant a tree the following winter: the best time to plant young trees to ensure they grow and thrive.
People can also sponsor Celebration Trees in one of Coventry’s parks and green spaces, where everyone can benefit.
Celebration Trees can be sponsored for all sorts of reasons: as a lasting and sustainable memorial to a loved one, to mark a special occasion, as a unique and meaningful gift, or just because you love trees and want to give something back to your community.
Trees for Streets enables people to make a difference to the world immediately on their doorstep, by working together with their local council.
It’s fantastic to have Coventry on board as our first partner In the Midlands, and we hope to inspire and empower the local community to take a leading role in greening the streets of their city.
Simeon Linstead
Project Director of Trees for Streets
We’ll let you know within a couple of months if your sponsorship is approved, then the council will plant the tree the following autumn/winter.
This year, sponsors can also add their sponsored tree to the Queen’s Green Canopy, and dedicate it to Her Majesty for the Platinum Jubilee. This option is offered on the confirmation page of the Trees for Streets online app, just before the sponsorship donation is made. It’s really simple to do, and doesn’t cost anything extra.
Get involved – start your tree sponsorship journey today!
