200,000 trees planted in West Midlands virtual forest - The Solihull Observer

200,000 trees planted in West Midlands virtual forest

Solihull Editorial 11th Jun, 2022   0

RESIDENTS, volunteers and councillors across the region have planted more than 200,000 trees in the Virtual Forest.

Since January 2020, West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has been calling on green-fingered people to get involved in tree planting through its initiative to plant a tree for every resident across the region to help tackle the climate emergency.

Severn Trent have been a major contributor to this milestone, planting 72 Tiny Forests – one to represent each Commonwealth nation or territory taking part in Birmingham 2022.

Most recently, over 2,000 people from schools and local communities took part in Severn Trent’s Tiny Forest planting day with 44,400 trees being planted.




The Virtual Forest was launched at the same time as #WM2041 which is WMCA’s plan to be achieve net zero carbon by 2041.

This target for the region will support the delivery of the government’s national target to achieve net zero carbon by 2050 while leaving no-one behind.


The announcement of the 200,000 milestone also falls on World Environment Day (June 5), an annual day by the United Nations to encourage awareness and action for the protection of the environment.

Councillor Ian Courts, WMCA portfolio holder for environment and energy and leader of Solihull Council, said: “Planting over 200,000 trees since 2020 is a magnificent achievement in support of our West Midlands Virtual Forest campaign.

“Here in Solihull, we’re making our contribution to the Virtual Forest by planting a total of 250,000 trees over the coming years through our own Planting Our Future and our £16.8m project Wildlife Ways programmes, just two of our exciting environmental initiatives we have in the borough.

“The value of tree and hedgerows to our environment cannot be underestimated.

“They are an important part of improving biodiversity, they absorb carbon and help create the beautiful green spaces we all want to enjoy across our region.”

WMCA is encouraging as many people as possible to register their trees to continue to see progress towards a greener West Midlands.

For more click here.

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