The city of Manchester in England has embarked on an ambitious plan to plant three million trees. The project is called the "City of Trees". Project director, Tony Hothersall, explained that the green venture had three main aims. He said: "One is to plant three million trees - a tree for every man, woman and child - over the next 25 years. Next, we are very much focused on bringing existing woodland into management because there is no point in planting new woodland if you can't manage what you've got already. Finally, we want to engage people a lot more in their natural environment - in planting trees, in managing areas, [and] in understanding more about the benefits that trees and woodlands bring to our society."
Mr Hothersall further outlined the rationale behind the recently-launched environmental project. He said: "Manchester wants to be a world-class city region. We have a lot of fantastic development going on, but the natural environment needs to keep up with that." He believes the initiative will reconnect people with trees and the natural world, provide benefits to health and reduce stress. He said: "Woodlands can do great things in terms of air pollution reduction and can help to screen for noise pollution. They can also help cities and towns become more resilient to climate change both in terms of things like reducing the urban heat island effect and also reducing…flooding."
