Mile End Park Pic: Mia Soares
Tower Hamlets have been awarded as a ‘Tree City of the World’ for the third year in a row for their tree-planting and environmental work.
Being recognised by Arbor Day Foundation last year, which runs this programme alongside Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the council has planted over 2400 trees.
More than 380 trees have been planted on streets, close to 300 trees for housing estates and over 1,770 in parks.
As one of the first councils in the UK to join the Trees for Streets programme in June 2021, people and businesses of the borough have sponsored more than 200 trees so far. In 2021, more than 5,500 trees had been planted.
Tower Hamlets have been shortlisted for Keep Britain Tidy’s Climate Action in Practice Award for their dedication to tree-planting and the impact these trees have on reducing carbon emissions as part of our journey to net zero carbon.
The Mayor of Tower Hamlets invested £1 million and made a pledge to plant at least 1,000 trees over a three-year period. Other trees are funded through businesses and local residents, donations and external and capital grant fundings.
Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “It is an honour that our borough has been recognised as a Tree City of the World for the third year in a row and that we have been shortlisted by Keep Britain Tidy for the Climate Action in Practice Award for our dedication to tree-planting. We know that trees have an essential role in our densely populated, urban borough – providing so many benefits for the environment, biodiversity, and of course, the people who live here.”
“As a council, we will continue to find more opportunities to work closely with partner organisations and find additional funding for more trees to be planted.”
The council is working closely with its partners to plant more trees across parks. Trees for Cities, a charity that manages the scheme Trees for Streets, have recently hosted many planting events, resulting in 150 new trees planted in Mile End Park, 20 in Victoria Park and 10 in Tredegar Square Gardens.
It told Eastlondonlines: “Trees for Cities have been really pleased to work with the Council, and with local community members on this over a number of years, including through the Trees for Streets scheme.
“It’s great that they’ve been recognised for their efforts through the Tree Cities of the World programme for a third year running. The accolade illustrates their continued commitment to caring for their urban forest and makes them part of a global network of cities working to raise the profile of urban trees and share best practices.
“The work for Tower Hamlets’ trees is far from over, and we’ll be continuing to work with the Council to establish and maintain recently planted and existing trees, and to look for new greening opportunities across the Borough.”
