Thousands of trees to be planted to mark King’s coronation

A new £2.5 million fund was launched on Saturday to help councils create green spaces and “connect communities with nature as a permanent reminder of the coronation”.

The initiative celebrates Charles’s passion for nature and the environment, which manifested itself in the many patronages for wildlife and conservation charities he held during his time as Prince of Wales.

Projects include free or subsidised tree schemes managed by councils, grants for farmers to plant trees on agricultural land and money for small tree nurseries.

Funding for communities and groups to plant orchards and for the planting of trees using the Miyawaki method, which involves careful soil preparation to rapidly plant dense native woodlands that are usually the size of a tennis court, will also be available.

The Government claims the initiative will help meet its targets to treble tree-planting rates by the next election and ensure 16.5% of land area is under tree cover by 2050.

However campaign group Friends of the Earth says the announcement only amounts to “a fraction” of what ministers need to do to meet their own targets.

Campaigner Paul de Zylva said: “We certainly need to see an increase in the number of trees being planted.

“But though positive, this announcement is only a fraction of what’s required if the Government is to get itself on track to meeting its own tree-planting targets.

“Ideally, we’d be seeing more money directed to the neighbourhoods that have little or no tree cover, because these are the communities missing out most on the many health and wellbeing benefits that trees bring – such as their ability to cool built up areas during hotter weather.”

Applications for grants of £10,000 to £50,000 opened on Saturday for county, district and city councils in England.

Other groups such as parish councils and housing associations should contact their local authority if they want to be involved.

The fund will be open for five weeks until September 11.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said: “Building on the launch of the first Coronation Woodlands this year, I am delighted that communities across the country will be able to create new spaces to enjoy trees which will serve as a permanent reminder of His Majesty’s coronation in their local areas.

“These new trees will mark His Majesty’s passion for trees and woodlands and deliver a range of benefits for the natural environment – from carbon sequestration, to habitat creation and the boosting of human health and wellbeing.”

Forestry Commission chairman Sir William Worsley said: “I am delighted that today we are opening the Coronation Living Heritage Fund to commemorate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

“This will enable communities to grow new and diverse trees to enrich the environment in which people, wildlife, and nature coexist for generations to come.”

The announcement follows the launch of several initiatives to mark the coronation earlier this year.

They include the renaming of England’s longest national trail as the King Charles III England Coast Path, the launch of the King’s Series of National Nature Reserves, and Forestry England’s creation of the first official Coronation Woodlands in April.