CITY of York Council has secured a £25,000 grant from the White Rose Forest to assess and digitally map new urban tree planting opportunities across the city.

Officers are now working with local ward councillors to gather insight on the best locations in their local area to be considered for tree planting to create new ‘Green Streets’ across the city. This information will support increase York’s tree canopy.

The secured funding will provide a list of suitable urban tree planting locations, making it easier to apply for further grant funding for trees and planting in future years.

Cllr Paula Widdowson, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: "Planting trees is an excellent way to improve our city’s biodiversity, creating brilliant habitats for wildlife and other plants to grow. They also absorb CO2 which is the main gas responsible for climate change.

“As trees can last for hundreds of years, planting them is suitable locations is key to enabling them to grow and thrive for generations to come. This exercise will help us do just that, and give us the information we will need in the future to plant in the best locations.”

The council is supporting other tree planting initiatives, including a jubilee tree giveaway for residents' gardens, and it recently planting the first trees on the city’s newest York Community Woodland.

A report summarising the findings of the opportunity mapping exercise and proposed next steps will be brought before the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change in late spring this year.