Local residents are celebrating the significant progress made in the Bucks Tree Mission, with over 145,000 trees planted since October 2022.
Gareth is leading this initiative, as Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change at Buckinghamshire Council. The overall mission, which began in 2021, is to plant more than 543,000 new trees on council-owned land in Buckinghamshire within a decade – one for every resident. This is part of the council’s comprehensive climate change and air quality strategy.
Key projects in the county have included a mix of large-scale tree planting on council land and a wide variety of local community planting initiatives:
Grange Farm, Hazlemere - 14,700 trees and shrubs planted at this site to create a new woodland in Hazlemere. Volunteers, including 60 schoolchildren, joined Gareth on a planting day with Chiltern Rangers.
Bury Farm, Amersham - 14,300 trees and shrubs planted at this site, creating a new Woodland overlooking old Amersham.
Platinum Way - 4,038 trees planted along this walking wheeling and cycling route with volunteer, planting coordinated by Chiltern Rangers.
Alongside the larger projects on council-owned land, community involvement has resulted in locally delivered, smaller tree planting projects. One such example is the Saint Peter’s Greenway, where a total of 2700 trees were planted. Additionally, ‘tiny forests’ have been established such as at Princes Risborough School, where 600 trees have been planted.
Gareth said : “This winter has seen a fantastic community effort across the entire area. It’s inspiring to witness such progress in planting a whole new generation of trees in Buckinghamshire, and a real highlight has been getting children involved in planting for their futures.
“This is all part of our Bucks Tree Mission to plant over half a million trees in the county as part of our climate change commitment to reach net zero, no later than 2050.”
