Extra government funding has been made available to the Clyde climate forest for additional planting
Hundreds of new trees are to be planted in Burnbank, Blantyre and Rutherglen following a funding boost for the Clyde climate forest project.
The initiative and similar planting projects in Fife, Lothians and Forth are sharing an additional £1 million from the Scottish Government to support their work in planting and protecting existing woodlands in communities with the fewest trees and greatest climate vulnerability.
Clyde climate forest, which covers the eight council areas of the Glasgow city region, has now identified the three South Lanarkshire areas among 16 “urban target neighbourhoods” where new planting will take place to increase low amounts of tree canopy cover and address risks including “flash flooding and urban overheating”.
The additional funding will also be used to pilot a new project to engage rural communities in understanding local climate impacts, beginning with work over the next year to identify sites and carry out tree planting at Douglas Water and Rigside.
Councillor Robert Brown, who chairs South Lanarkshire’s community and enterprise resources committee, said: “Through the 1000 Trees campaign, the Clyde climate forest aims to plant at least 1000 new urban trees in each of the selected communities, and I am delighted that so far 6276 trees have been planted in South Lanarkshire’s target neighbourhoods.
“This new funding will help our plans to push ahead in this transformative work that will bring many social, health and environmental benefits, including capturing carbon, protecting the environment, increasing biodiversity, improving access to nature and supporting local communities to become more climate-resilient.”
The Clyde Climate forest initiative, which includes both South and neighbouring North Lanarkshire, has planted nearly five million trees across the Glasgow city region over the past five years.
It was established in 2021 and has since been followed by similar projects across Scotland, aiming to plant 35 million trees by 2035 with the backing of almost £13m in Scottish Government funding.
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