Islington Council has planted 700 trees in the borough this year so far. The council announced the milestone on their Twitter account on Monday.
According to Jon Ryan, Arboricultural Manager at Islington Council, the borough already boasts 25% canopy cover – compared with 21% on average for London – made up of over 40,000 trees of 292 different species.
This is enough greenery to soak up 18,000 tonnes of carbon and helps to reduce pollution in the local area.
Presenting at Islington Ecology Centre, in Gillespie Park, on Friday 18 March, Ryan said Islington council’s tree management team hopes to grow the canopy cover to 30%.
Some trees, however, could be under threat from the recent spread of Ash Dieback – a chronic fungal disease – and other tree diseases. “Islington could lose 30% of its canopy cover,” Ryan warned.
The 700 new trees are a welcome addition to the greenery of the borough, which loses around 400 trees a year from threat of subsidence to buildings or tree end of life. Referring to the damage done to trees in Islington by Storm Eunice in February, Ryan said: “We attended 72 emergency callouts in 24 hours and lost 46 trees in total.”
Over 150 of this year’s new trees were donated by the Forest for Change exhibition at Somerset House. Campaigning and fundraising by local group, Islington Clean Air Parents, collected over £15,000 to cover the transportation and after-care of the trees. Islington Council planted the trees and is responsible for their long-term maintenance.
Ryan told Islington Now that while pressure to plant more trees is increasing, the council face more obstacles to planting. For example, they can no longer plant a tree on the pavement outside a house’s front gate as it could restrict access, nor can they plant along a building’s flank wall in case of subsidence issues.
Nevertheless, the future looks positive for Islington’s trees. The council has secured a specific tree planting budget every year for the next decade, Ryan announced on 18 March. This targeted budget had not existed previously.
Locals can also apply for council funding to bring their own green ideas to fruition through Islington’s new Greener Together programme, announced earlier this month.
