Volunteers are helping to plant 50,000 trees in parks and other local green spaces this winter

Tree planting across Enfield is continuing apace this winter with several new miniature woodlands putting down roots in local parks and green spaces.

Last year Enfield Council won funding to plant 16,000 trees from the Local Authority Treescapes Fund (LATF) established by the Forestry Commission, with a particular focus on parks in the east of the borough.

Parks and open spaces including Durants Park, Prince of Wales Open Space, Jubilee Park, Tottenhal Rec, King George’s Fields and Hoe Green are benefiting from some of these new trees, which will help the council meet its climate targets.

In addition, the council’s award-winning woodland scheme in the west of the borough, Enfield Chase Restoration Project, has relaunched with an additional 34,000 trees being planted this season. Over the previous two years, 100,000 trees were planted across a wide area between Trent Park and Crews Hill, on what was most recently farmland but had historically been a forest and royal hunting ground.

Senior Labour councillors Rick Jewell, Ergin Erbil and Chinelo Anyanwu planting trees in Jubilee Park this month — Labour councillors Rick Jewell, Ergin Erbil and Chinelo Anyanwu planting trees with volunteers in Jubilee Park this month

This year’s tree-planting season, which runs from November to March, kicked off in Enfield with a ‘Tiny Forest’ being planted at Alma Recreation Ground in Enfield Highway.

Similar projects have continued since at eight other local green spaces. Ergin Erbil, the council’s deputy leader, said: “We have committed to planting one million trees across the borough. These 16,000 trees in our parks will help meet our tree-planting target, improve biodiversity, boost community activities, improve air quality and the borough’s flood defences.

“This forms part of our climate action commitments and promise to deliver a greener Enfield.”

Tiny forests are dense, fast-growing native woodlands, usually about the size of a tennis court. They are attractive locations for both wildlife and people and provide a range of benefits in the fight against climate change.

Trees are also excellent at improving local flood resilience by taking moisture out of soil and stabilising the ground, decreasing the amount of surface water that could contribute to flash flooding events.

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