Coed Caerdydd – Cardiff's urban forest programme

With the 100,000 tree planted this year, Cardiff Council’s APSE Service Award winning urban forest programme is bringing the benefits of nature to local communities and help the city reach its net zero target.

With an extensive network of over 550 parks, woodlands, and green spaces, Cardiff is one of the greenest cities in the UK – shaping its character, driving positive health outcomes, and contributing to the well-being of its residents. It is from these strong foundations that Cardiff Council’s One Planet climate strategy is built on – an action plan to make Cardiff a carbon-neutral city by 2030.

As part of the strategy, which includes the development of the low-carbon heat network, new cycleways and a solar farm – amongst many others – the Coed Carerdydd programme is a ten-year strategy to increase tree coverage across the city from 18.9% to 25%, helping to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and make Cardiff a greener and healthier place to live. Alongside these climate and health goals, Coed Caredydd also seeks to address the increasing risks to trees across the city, including pests, diseases, and aging stock.

First devised in 2019 and developed into a successful pilot project with funding from the Welsh Government’s Enabling Natural Resources and Wellbeing Scheme, the Woodland Trust, Cardiff’s Local Nature Partnership, and Trees for Cities – the programme has now been integrated into the Council’s revenue funding.

Although directed by a central project team of rangers and staff within the council, volunteers have been crucial to Coed Caredydd’s success. Community involvement has been central to the project from the start, helping to achieve the ambitious tree planting targets and deliver on the needs of local people. 

Community volunteers

Participation from volunteers of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds - including significant involvement from BAME communities, children and adults with learning, physical, and/or mental disabilities, and groups working with refugees and asylum seekers. Local communities have also played a vital role in the Tree Guardian network, supporting continued care of the trees, including watering and monitoring.

Since the first planting season in 2021, the project has seen over 16,000 hours donated to plant and care for approximately 115,000 new trees across every Council ward in the city. Volunteer participation has grown year on year, from 730 volunteers in 2021 to 2,942 in 2025, while planting has taken place in over 160 parks and open spaces, 80 street verges, 50 schools, nurseries, or university settings, 5 farms, and 20 other community spaces such as scout halls, churches, allotments, and hubs.

However, the project has not been without its challenges, with its implementation being delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Issues also emerged following the first planting season due to a heatwave and lack of rainfall. Planting sites also experienced some vandalism and negative public feedback. 

Engagement with school pupils 

In line with UK averages, the average successful establishment rate of new planting across Cardiff is 82%. Around 40% of sites have a 100% success rate. Nearly two thirds of newly planted sites have registered Tree Guardians that help with site monitoring and maintenance, such as watering and weeding, including over 158 individuals, 42 schools, and 24 community groups.

Now in its fourth year, staff have learnt a lot throughout the course of the programme and have embedded this throughout planning and delivery. For example, certain tree species and the planting methods used to reduce watering demands and overcome competitive vegetation – allowing for more healthy trees to successfully grow and develop. Additional community engagement has also been introduced prior to planting – including working with schools and young people to embed respect for the trees, as well as engaging external landowners including farms and universities.

Looking to the future, the council will continue to work with a diverse network of stakeholders to identify and deliver upon opportunities to expand the tree canopy across Cardiff, including planting trees at scale across housing estates in areas of multiple deprivation, working with more farmers to create and restore hedgerows and fruit tree planting, create community green corridors of hedgerows in front gardens, and continuing to work with the highways team to replace street trees lost to age, disease or storm events.