More than 1.9 million trees were planted in the Northern Forest last year in the biggest planting season so far for the project, conservationists said.
It is the largest number of trees planted in a season since the project to create a swathe of woodland and tree cover across the north of England began six years ago, the Woodland Trust said.
The bumper season means nearly eight million new trees have been established across cities, towns and countryside across the region, with 87,000 households in the most deprived areas now within 500 metres – less than a 10-minute walk – away from woodland.
Across the region overall, there are 300,000 more households that are now less than a 10-minute walk from publicly accessible woodland.
Research by Liverpool John Moores University and commissioned by the Northern Forest partners, also highlighted a £43 million boost a year for those living in the Northern Forest, with benefits from flood alleviation to improving health, more investment and higher house prices.
Since 2018, the Woodland Trust and community forests in the north of England – The Mersey Forest, Manchester City of Trees, the White Rose Forest and Humber Forest – have worked together on the project to establish 50 million trees over 25 years, stretching from Liverpool to Hull.
Before the project – which has benefited from funding from the Environment Department (Defra), secured up to early 2026 – the area had just 7.6% tree cover, compared to the national average of 13%.
Nick Sellwood who leads the Woodland Trust’s Northern Forest team said: “It was a very ambitious vision when we began the Northern Forest but what has been achieved for communities across the north, by bringing multiple agencies together, is nothing short of remarkable.”
He described the last planting season as “a bumper year” but there was still much more to do.
“There are now thousands more trees in cities, in the countryside – and in more inhospitable places high up in the Dales.
“More new woodlands bring huge benefits to people – not just in terms of wellbeing, but in jobs and a boost to businesses and the economy through the likes of improving air quality, reducing flooding and creating green jobs,” he said.
He added: “With more trees desperately needed across the UK to fight the ever-growing threat of climate change, we hope that the Northern Forest could inspire similar transformative projects in other parts of the country.”
Planting has taken place in spots including Frodsham Woods, Runcorn, where the Woodland Trust is turning a former golf course into a nature haven with the planting of 30,000 trees, while a further 10,000 are being encouraged to seed naturally from neighbouring ancient woodland.
Kirklees Council, supported by the White Rose Forest, planted almost 15 hectares (37 acres) across 11 council-owned sites in 2023/24 with almost 1,000 volunteers helping plant trees.
The Mersey Forest joined Wirral Council and volunteers to plant more than 2,700 trees at Eastham Country Park, and Humber Forest’s delivery partner Rewilding Youth held a community day to plant 576 trees to create a small woodland for local people and wildlife at Dent Road, Cottingham, Hull.
And City of Trees, the community forest in Greater Manchester, worked with social housing provider Onward Homes to plant hundreds of “whips”, or small, young trees, to create woodlands at three sites in Tameside and Bolton.
