Northern Ireland

Belfast city council to give away free trees as part of its One Million Trees project

The people of Belfast are being urged to `Give a tree a home' this weekend as part of the council's One Million Trees project. To mark National Tree Week – the UK’s largest annual tree celebration – Belfast city council will be giving free trees away to a good home tomorrow (SAT) to encourage residents to plant trees across the city
The people of Belfast are being urged to `Give a tree a home' this weekend as part of the council's One Million Trees project. To mark National Tree Week – the UK’s largest annual tree celebration – Belfast city council will be g The people of Belfast are being urged to `Give a tree a home' this weekend as part of the council's One Million Trees project. To mark National Tree Week – the UK’s largest annual tree celebration – Belfast city council will be giving free trees away to a good home tomorrow (SAT) to encourage residents to plant trees across the city

THE people of Belfast are being urged to `give a tree a home' this weekend as part of the council's One Million Trees project.

To mark National Tree Week, Belfast City Council will be giving free trees away.

Taking place at the bandstand in Ormeau Park from 10am - 3pm, people will also have the chance to listen to some poetry and folklore, and learn about the history of woodlands across Ormeau and Belvoir.

The Belfast One Million Trees project aims to plant one million native trees across the city by 2035 in an effort to reduce carbon, improve air quality and reduce flooding.

Inspired by an original idea from the Belfast Metropolitan Residents Group, the project is a collaboration between public, private and voluntary sector partners.

Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl said: "The challenge to plant one million trees by 2035 is very ambitious and we know this - but that doesn’t mean it isn’t achievable.

"Since council announced a climate emergency in 2019, we have been proactively taking a lead in tackling climate change.

"Having just returned from Cop26, it is fantastic to hear about the progress being made with the One Million Trees project and it is really encouraging to hear that over 40,000 trees have already been planted in the city and city regions since the project was launched last year."

She added that the One Million Trees campaign is a "fantastic and practical example of how we can do one wee thing to help tackle the climate crisis together".

:: Further information is available at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/onemilliontrees.