Cardiff’s urban forest project plans to plant a further 30,000 trees across the city this season, with new trees going into every council ward.
The Coed Caerdydd project began in 2021 as part of Cardiff Council’s One Planet Cardiff response to climate change. Since then, more than 155,000 trees have been planted across the city, and volunteers have given more than 22,500 hours to planting, growing and caring for them.
Last season, 533 new street trees were planted as part of the project, and the council hopes even more will be planted this season.
This year’s programme will place a greater focus on planting on school sites, private land and in community spaces, building on work already carried out in many of the city’s parks and green spaces.
The trees will be mainly native species, along with some non-invasive ornamental species suitable for climate change adaptation. Increasingly, the project will plant trees grown from locally collected seed at the Coed Caerdydd nursery.
Free tree giveaways for Cardiff residents will also return this planting season, and community planting events will begin shortly, with opportunities for people of all ages and experience levels.
Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: “The new trees that have been planted in Cardiff over the last five years will benefit generations to come, making streets cooler, providing important habitats for wildlife, soaking up carbon emissions, and helping clean the air.”
Cllr Burke added: “Planting so many trees has only been possible because of the incredible support of volunteers and we’d love to see as many people as possible getting involved again this season so we can plant even more. Whether you can spare an hour at a community planting session, help care for young trees in your neighbourhood, or support the work that goes on at our tree nursery, it makes a huge difference.”
“It can be a complicated business, planting street trees,” said Coed Caerdydd Project Manager Chloe Jenkins. “You have to take into account things like gas and water pipes, electricity and broadband cables – that can really limit where we can plant. But, trees do a really good job of keeping streets cooler and that can make a real difference during hot weather like we had this summer, so we’re keen to plant as many as we can.”
Volunteering opportunities can be found at https://www.eventbrite.com/o/coed-caerdydd-46791623513
