Our STREETs need more trees!
Greener streets, cleaner air, and less pollution – Trees for Cities is on a mission to fill our streets with trees
Street trees have the power to transform our neighbourhoods. Not only are more trees needed to help combat climate change, but they also bring so many more amazing benefits that can be enjoyed immediately:
- A positive effect on our mental and physical health
- Reduced air pollution
- Protection from flooding
- Creation of shaded areas
- Encouraging calmer and more careful driving
- Reducing instances of littering and fly-tipping
- Boosting the local economy
Our Trees for Streets scheme, which is part of the national urban tree charity Trees for Cities, allows people to sponsor the planting of new, semi-mature trees in urban areas. The project aims to fund the planting of 250,000 new street trees nationwide in the next 10 years.
Haringey Council joined the Trees for Streets scheme in the summer of 2021, and plenty of local people have already taken the opportunity to green their streets. So far, over 250 new trees have been funded by Haringey residents, and requests keep coming in every day.
The response right across the borough has been huge. We’ve had individuals sponsoring trees outside their homes, families requesting trees in memory of loved ones, local businesses giving back to the community, and several streets where groups of neighbours came together and fundraised to green their whole street with trees.
The council tree experts have planted varieties like Cherry, Crab Apple, Hawthorn, Whitebeam and Sweet Gum – perfect for attracting all sorts of birds, bees and other wildlife! At around 4m high, these new trees are sturdy, low-maintenance and suit local conditions.
Many residents have also volunteered to water these new trees, which is critical to helping them get established in their first few years of street life.
If you’d like to get involved, it’s really easy to do with our app. Just select the location where you’d like to have a tree planted and make a sponsorship request. We’ll forward it to the council tree experts and let you know when your request has been confirmed. Demand is high, so we recommend getting your request in early to get your tree planted in the coming planting season – we don’t want anyone to miss out!
Trees for Streets is the National Street Tree Sponsorship Scheme from the charity Trees for Cities. This project is funded by DEFRA’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund and City Bridge Trust.
We work with local councils to supplement their tree planting budgets through public and corporate sponsorship, and make it easy for residents to get involved in greening their streets.
Find out more and get involved: https://treesforstreets.org/haringey
