AROUND 210 football pitches' worth of trees will be planted across Cumbria over the next five years, the council have said.

At a meeting of Cumbria County Council’s cabinet members agreed to lead on the Cumbria Coastal Community Forest project as the accountable body for the project.

They will work in collaboration and partnership with Cumbria Woodlands, The National Trust, local councils and partners.

The county council will receive funds on behalf of Cumbria Woodlands (hosted by the Lake District National Park) and will manage the programme to enable delivery of the Cumbria Coastal Community Forest.

The development of a new coastal community forest in Cumbria was given the green light by Defra last month during National Tree Week (November 27 – December 5) – with a £220,000 boost from Defra’s Nature for Climate Fund to kickstart planting. This funding will see the equivalent of one tree planted for every resident in Copeland, Barrow and Allerdale.

The community forest is an ambitious and exciting new initiative that will see thousands of new trees planted along a 56-mile stretch of the western coast of Cumbria and help bring people closer to nature.

Over five years, up to 150 hectares (or around 210 football pitches) of trees, woodlands and forests will be planted, capturing around 32,910 tonnes of CO2 over the lifetime of the trees. With the aim to create around 5,000 hectares of new woodland (almost 7,000 football pitches) in the next 25 years.

These will provide direct and real benefit for people living within these communities through the development of new tree planting and woodland creation. It will offer opportunities for decarbonisation and enhance the county’s natural capital, making Cumbria a more attractive place to live and work.

Councillor Celia Tibble, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “I am delighted that the county council will lead on this exciting initiative as the accountable body. By enabling this ambitious project, we can help connect our residents and local communities to local nature without the need to travel whilst also significantly contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

“The new community forest will not only benefit Cumbria environmentally and economically but provide far reaching physical and mental health benefits for our communities too. The project will offer opportunities for green jobs, nature recovery, carbon storage, enhanced biodiversity and environmental resilience.”