Around 3,500 trees have been planted on top of a former landfill site in Mansfield Woodhouse as part of the Trees for Climate project.
The Mansfield District Council site of three hectares (7.6 acres) was originally a quarry before being used for landfill in the 1950s.
With no agricultural value, the land has had little use over the years and was put forward as a number of suitable plots around the district which could be used for new recreational woodland and is the final site to have been planted since 2023.
The mammoth task to plant all the saplings and shrubs, has been managed by Sherwood Forest Trust, a local conservation charity which has marshalled a team of 180 volunteers to help out.
Trees for Climate has been a government funded project, managed locally by Greenwood Community Forest, a Nottinghamshire County Council initiative that works in partnership with four local councils in the county.
They include Mansfield where the district has benefitted from £61,000 in funding to create new woodlands, with around 7,000 trees being planted since 2023 with the help of nearly 500 volunteers.
It is estimated that each tree can capture up to 150kg of carbon per year so with the additional 3,500 trees planted, this can expect to capture up to 525 metric tons of carbon annually. That’s equivalent to 60,000 petrol driven car journeys of 50 miles each – helping to improve air quality and overall quality of life.
The Greenwood Community Forest, along with another 14 Community Forests in England, was awarded funding from the Government’s Nature for Climate fund in 2021 to plant millions of trees across England to help mitigate global warming and climate change.
In Mansfield, among the council sites that have benefitted from the scheme are:
- Warsop Vale Open Space in Carter Lane
- Deepdale Open Space, off Deepdale Road in Forest Town
- Fisher Lane Park, Mansfield
- Maun Valley Local Nature Reserve in Mansfield
- Thorpelands Open Space off Thorpelands Avenue, Forest Town
- Peafield Park in Mansfield Woodhouse
- Carr Lane Park in Warsop
- Leeming Lane Open Space in Mansfield Woodhouse
Among the species to be planted at the Common Lane site are oak, rowan, birch, alder. dogwood and holly. At other sites the species have also included hazel, maple, willow, cherry, beech, poplar, horse chestnut, hawthorn, blackthorn, broom, and gorse.
Executive Mayor Andy Abrahams said: “The Trees for Climate scheme has seen thousands of trees planted in the district and our huge thanks go the Greenwood Community Forest and to Sherwood Forest Trust and the hundreds of volunteers who have helped out over the past couple of years to get these young trees into the ground.
“In 15 years’ time these new trees will really begin to transform these sites, helping to capture carbon and regenerating these open spaces into beautiful recreational woodlands that will help wildlife to thrive and which everyone can enjoy.”