More trees are needed to combat climate change says West Oxfordshire councillor

The Woodland Trust recently launched its Emergency Tree Plan to help deliver 1.5 million hectares of additional woodland in the UK as set out by the Committee on Climate Change.

Cllr David Harvey, Cabinet Member for Climate Change at West Oxfordshire District Council, acknowledges the need for tree planting but is urging that a range of initiatives are considered to help reach the Government’s net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“We should encourage more trees in public parks and other council owned areas but we need to go much further,” said Cllr Harvey.

In a motion approved by the council, he suggested that more cash is dedicated towards helping the activities of a range of environmental initiatives currently supported by the authority. These include the Wychwood Project, the Lower Windrush Valley Project, the Oxfordshire Local Wildlife Sites Project and Wild Oxfordshire.

Cllr Harvey added: “All these initiatives, either directly or indirectly, help mitigate the effects of climate change and loss of biodiversity and landscape character.

“These may not exclusively involve the planting of trees but are equally significant in terms of protecting our environment in the wider sense.”

Last month scores of volunteers including council staff helped plant 2,000 trees at Fulbrook in an initiative organised by the Wychwood Trust.