Plymouth City Council: Delivering our urban community forest

Following their win at APSE’s Annual Service Awards for Best Grounds Maintenance and Horticulture Service, take a deep dive into Plymouth’s tree planting scheme.

Plymouth City Council’s tree planting programme has been delivering in spades over the last 5 years. Since 2019, PCC has directly delivered and supported partners to plant over 18,000 trees across the city, through a range of funded schemes. The programme has been widespread and involved partnership work with operations teams, developing precise datasets, utilising new digital platforms, new management approaches, and staff training. It has been hugely successful and provides a great case study for others with similar ambitions.

Integral to this successful delivery has been internal and external collaborative working, and notably the formation of Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest (PSDCF). PSDCF was an initiative born from Plymouth’s Plan for Trees which sets a mission for  thousands of trees to be planted, bringing woodlands and green space back into use for both people and wildlife, creating resilient, nature rich places for communities in Plymouth and the surrounding areas. PSDCF is a unique partnership consisting of Plymouth City Council (lead partner), National Trust, Woodland Trust, South Hams District Council, West Devon Borough Council, Devon County Council and Dartmoor National Park Authority and has been delivering since 2021 facilitating Defra’s Trees for Climate funding. 

The creation of PSDCF has led to large-scale woodland creation across South Devon and Dartmoor, whilst also importantly supporting and enhancing a strong, collaborative service delivery model for Plymouth City Council’s own Parks, Grounds, and Horticultural service. This work is shared between our own Environmental Operations and Environmental Planning teams respectively and is driven by Plymouth’s Plan for Trees. 

The city’s Plan for Trees was signed by a partnership group in 2019 and set the vision to value and care for the City’s urban forest so they can play a fundamental role in the city’s future. Its strategic framework is underpinned by a delivery programme which is reviewed at regular intervals, to respond to change and need within Plymouth, and for its trees. Following the partnership’s work, in 2019 the city embarked on the Plymouth Tree Challenge which amongst other things kickstarted the city’s enhanced tree planting programme and provided the foundations for a successful application to become England’s 11th Community Forest, among an England-wide network of Community Forests located in and around our largest towns and cities. The spatial designation of Community Forests means they are not a single woodland, but a growing number of distinct trees and woodlands, in PSDCF’s case across a 140,000-hectare programme area, weaving through urban areas, towns, and villages, and reaching from moor to shore.

PCC has successfully planted over 18,000 trees within the city of Plymouth, impacting an area equivalent to 85 football pitches across 102 individual sites. Working alongside community groups, schools and social housing organisations has allowed an opportunity for people from different communities to get involved, and across the last three years, over 51 urban community-led events have taken place, instilling a sense of care and appreciation for nature and how it can benefit society.

An array of planting types including but not limited to memorial trees, community orchards, schools, grass verges, street trees and parks have been part of our delivery in Plymouth, embodying our Plan for Trees and employing the principles of ‘right tree right place’ has been key to ensuring optimal planting conditions. During so, important relationships have been developed, allowing constant consultation to inform a holistic approach to how we manage and regenerate urban green spaces within the city.

A total of over 5000 people have engaged with the programme since its launch, and we are delighted to support the engagement of young people in particular; creating a sense of ownership over the city’s trees and inspiring the next generation to continue stewardship of nature for generations to come, advocating its importance in addressing the climate emergency. These achievements in Plymouth are highlighted by our pioneering young person programme, ‘Forest Rising’. Designed for the next generation of leaders, Forest Rising harnesses youth power, and puts young people at the heart of the project allowing them to sit at the table with decision makers and to implement their ideas in relation to nature recovery where they live. 

This year we will be planting tree schemes in the city that have been designed by our Forest Risers. The programme is inclusive of direct learning about the natural environment, tree planting, and the benefits of increased tree numbers across the UK, as well providing skills development and support with routes to employment within the green industry. We have so far supported 61 ‘Forest Risers’, which has this year led to the creation of a youth forum, which has engaged with 50 practical sessions to upskill and empower young participants.

Other headline figures achieved and celebrated by PCC & PSDCF are 5,857 metres of hedgerow created, more than 10,000 volunteer hours gifted, 26,292 m3/year of water storage created through tree planting and increased carbon sequestration capacity by 1,568 tonnes of CO2 annually – equivalent to removing 1140 cars from the road each year.

The PSDCF partnership is excited to continue delivery into 2025 this winter within the city working with Plymouth City Council’s grounds and horticulture team. However, external partnership working will also be instrumental in the success of the planting season ahead, with other organisations leading on schemes supported by PSDCF. We aspire to be supporting the planting of ‘Miyawaki’ forests in primary schools across the city in partnership with a local Community Interest Company, which will see multiple high density micro-forests being introduced in playgrounds and parks. Additionally, we will be working alongside a trusted Plymouth Plan for Trees partner to plan and deliver the implementation of hardscape street trees in future months, enabling the introduction of nature and green infrastructure in places PSDCF has not been able to reach before. 

Finally, collaboration with the Green Communities team to address tree inequity in the city to ensure more people have access to trees, whilst our recent, but ever-growing Community Tree Nursery will benefit the program through the provision of 7,500 whips every two years, omitting the need to outsource trees for a substantial part of delivery. So far 20 native species tree species have been collected and grown, almost 50 sessions have been hosted and 45 volunteers have helped grow the next generation of trees in Plymouth. Trees nurtured and grown by the CTN and its volunteers will be planted out across the city, standing for decades to come.