The West of England Metro Mayor joined a not-for-profit community group last week as he helped to dig soil beds for one thousand saplings at a ‘tree-making green factory’ in Bath.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris and Hugh Steele
Dan Norris joined More Trees Bath and North East Somerset, which works to protect and plant trees in the local area.
Set up in 2008, it is run entirely by volunteers and has planted approximately 8,000 trees.
Mr Norris set about sieving the soil in the special animal-proofed area protected by six-foot fences to ensure wildlife such as deer and badgers are not able to eat the young saplings.
Hugh Steele, on whose land the tree factory is being created, told Mr Norris how a welcome increase in tree planting across the country is causing more nurseries to run out of stock and that there can be a carbon footprint associated with shipping trees across the country, making a big difference to sustainability.
Mr Norris also heard how the West of England has one of the lowest percentages of trees per square mile and that increasing this number is vital to hit the region’s aim of net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
The Metro Mayor said: “The West of England will need more trees if we are to reach our ambitious target of net zero carbon by 2030.
“Rather than transporting them across the country or from abroad, which also creates carbon, it is great to see a ‘green factory’ producing over 1,000 trees for our local area.”
