More than 1,000 volunteers are helping to build an "urban forest" in Ealing which will remove thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air each year.

In fact the volunteers are harnessing so much planting power they have been able to plant more than £6,000 worth of trees and an incredible 53,000 saplings since 2014.

The planting drive is a partnership between Ealing Council and Trees for Cities, a charity which works to plant trees in cities across the UK and has a target of planting one million of them.

At a council meeting on Tuesday, June 12, Councillor Mik Sabiers, cabinet member for environment and highways, said Ealing's volunteers should be proud of what they have accomplished.

He said: "More than 1,000 volunteers have taken part in this project. It's a brilliant achievement.

"It will help the council to meet its target of planting 34,000 trees by 2022 and it is making a real difference in achieving a cleaner and greener borough."

The value of trees in Ealing has been shown by a recent report prepared by Trees for Cities which shows the 234,400 trees in Ealing remove 33 tonnes of pollutants and over 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, improving local air quality and helping mitigate climate change.

It has branded the trees in Ealing's urban parks, gardens, housing estates, open spaces, woodlands, streets and transport infrastructure an "urban forest".

The report called Valuing Ealing's Urban Trees, states tree cover varies greatly across Ealing, from 6% in Southall Green ward to 26% in North Greenford. Some 87 species of trees are recorded across the borough.

Council leader Julian Bell said: “Ealing Council has worked hard to demonstrate its commitment to our borough’s trees, a commitment we intend to keep over the coming years to safeguard this vital asset.

“Ealing is rightly recognised as one of the greenest boroughs in the capital and we will always look at ways to enhance our well-earned reputation even further in the future.

“We have been working with Trees for Cities since 2010 to deliver community greening projects and improve outdoor spaces across the borough. We have also planted over 6,000 trees and 53,000 saplings since 2014.”

Some of the 1,000 volunteers helping Ealing create an urban forest
Some of the 1,000 volunteers helping Ealing build an urban forest

A Trees for Cities spokesman added: "Ealing’s trees are becoming increasingly valuable as we face the challenges of climate change and population growth. We believe this first borough wide report is groundbreaking research that will spark a tide of lasting environmental change."

The report recommends a wider variety of species of trees should be planted, mature trees should be better protected and trees with the largest canopy cover should be planted wherever possible - especially in wards where there are fewer of them.

It sets the ambitious target of achieving a 20% canopy cover goal for all Ealing wards by 2030.

It also urges the council to carry out a systematic and thorough inventory of all the trees under its ownership and to produce a strategic urban forest masterplan that looks ahead with a vision of how the borough should look in 2100.

To read the full report go to www.treesforcities.org/stories/valuing-ealings-urban-trees