Over 8,000 trees to be planted at Newcastle Airport site

Newcastle International Airport has joined a regional tree planting scheme and has committed to creating several new areas of woodland on its land.
By Joshua Wright
Published 14th Feb 2022, 13:23 BST
Map of the planned woodland at the Newcastle International Airport site.Map of the planned woodland at the Newcastle International Airport site.
Map of the planned woodland at the Newcastle International Airport site.

The North East Community Forest is a 30 year, multi-million pound project that will see tens of thousands of trees planted across various locations.

To help tackle climate change and support regeneration, the initiative plans to plant up to 500 hectares of trees by 2025, with a long-term goal to increase canopy cover across the North East by 30 per cent before 2050 – almost double the national average.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The new woodland areas at the Newcastle International Airport site, which will involve the planting of more than 8,300 trees, will be one of the largest of the 25 North East Community Forest sections that will be created in the 2021/22 planting season.

Covering an area of 5.77 hectares, the new woodland at the airport will include a mix of native broadleaf species such as Silver Birch, Sycamore, Poplar and White Willow.

Graeme Mason, the airport’s chief sustainability and communications officer, said: “The North East Community Forest project aligns with our sustainability plans and we are delighted to be a part of the scheme.

“Tree planting goes a long way towards tackling the effects of climate change and we are pleased to be able to contribute to a project that will provide a greener and cleaner future for the region.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We are committed to being a good neighbour and becoming a Net Zero Carbon Airport by the year 2035.

“As part of this strategy, we have plans to build a solar farm on airport land that will aim to generate 100 per cent of our electricity by renewable means.”

Since its inception in July 2021, which was supported by £480,000 from Defra’s Nature for Climate Fund (England Community Forests Trees for Climate Fund), the North East Community Forest scheme has secured additional funding with £300,734 from the Forestry Commission (Local Authority Treescape Fund) and LA6 match funding, £70,633 from Trees for Cities, and backing from the Queen’s Green Canopy – plant a tree for the Jubilee – initiative.

For more information, go to www.newcastle.gov.uk/northeastcommunityforest