Yorkshire Water planting 38,000 trees to create new woodland

Yorkshire Water has embarked on a project to create a new 25-hectare woodland in Cottingham, with the planting of over 38,000 native trees.

In collaboration with the Woodland Trust, the initiative is being funded by DEFRA's Nature for Climate Fund as part of the Northern Forest 'Grow back Greener' grant scheme.

The project, which commenced on November 28, aims to contribute to the development of the Humber Forest and the broader Northern Forest, spanning from Liverpool to Hull. The native tree species, including oak, birch, aspen, rowan, and wild cherry, will be planted on land surrounding Yorkshire Water's Cottingham Water Pumping Station, adjacent to Hull City AFC's training ground.

READ MORE: Beverley Christmas Festival 2024: Everything you need to know

READ MORE: Exciting new high ropes course to be built in Hull with 'world first' design

Yorkshire Water has also announced plans to host community planting days post-Christmas, inviting locals to participate in tree planting.

The new tree planting project follows similar schemes across Yorkshire Water land to create new woodlands. To date Yorkshire Water has planted almost 300,000 trees with many more planned for this winter.

Hazel Earnshaw, lead countryside and woodland advisor, at Yorkshire Water, said: “Woodland cover in England currently stands at 10% of total land area. The East Riding of Yorkshire has a canopy cover of just 5.05%. This woodland will be on the outskirts of the least wooded city in the UK. We are always looking at better ways to use our land to help improve the environment and protect water quality and this project at Cottingham will help to do both.

“The new woodland will help boost local biodiversity, protect water quality and help with climate change. Alongside the typical large woodland trees such as oak we’ll also plant lots of smaller flowering species such as cherry and hawthorn to help support biodiversity and enhance the landscape.

“We are also planning to extend access to the area to include new permissive routes, while being sensitive to the need to protect water quality and retain some areas exclusively for nature conservation. By improving access to local people, we can help support health and wellbeing and improve physical and mental health.”

Alasdair Fagan, lead outreach advisor at the Woodland Trust, said: “We are delighted to be involved in this project which will provide more trees for the Humber Forest and wider Northern Forest, stretching from Liverpool to Hull. Although East Yorkshire has lots of natural features it is particularly low on tree and woodland cover.

"The woodland will comprise of 24 native tree species and these trees will bring many benefits – for nature with new homes for wildlife, by capturing carbon to help combat climate change, and for people bringing them more access to nature and all the wellbeing benefits this brings.”

Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from Hull with our free newsletter