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Mansfield Council, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust and the NHS have united together to begin planting 3,400 trees to ‘green up’ the district.

The opportunity to plant trees follows the launch of a new scheme to create climate-combating woodlands, coordinated by the Greenwood Community Forest with The Sherwood Forest Trust.

The Trees for Climate project will see a variety of tree roots planted in sites across the district, including Peafield Lane Park, Fisher Lane Park and the Maun Valley Trail.

The first round of tree planting is expected to be complete by late March, with more sessions planned for October, and March 2024.

Coun Andy Burgin, left, and Mansfield mayor Andy Abrahams plant a tree.

The Greenwood Community Forest was awarded funding from the Government’s Nature for Climate fund in November 2021 to deliver the woodland creations, aiming to address climate change and carbon mitigation through planting millions of trees across England.

For the Mansfield planting, SFH, which runs Sutton’s King’s Mill and Mansfield Community hospitals, has contributed 140 fruit trees to the site in Peafield Lane.

Coun Andy Burgin, council portfolio holder for environment and leisure, said it was fantastic to see the works begin to benefit the community and local wildlife.

He said: “I am delighted to see the work now taking shape across the district, with new trees being planted weekly. I am particularly excited about the new community orchard created at Peafield Park, where we see the fantastic work of volunteers and community spirit come together.

From left, Coun Andy Burgin, Dr Patrick Candler and Mansfield mayor Andy Abrahams at the planting.

“Over the next 20 years, we hope this orchard will blossom into a beautiful community resource that will help to benefit local nature and wildlife, residents of the area and help to mitigate against climate change.

“These trees, once mature, will improve biodiversity, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase our woodland cover district-wide.”

Over the coming weeks, local businesses, community groups, and schools will support other tree planting events as part of the project, including:

Today and tomorrow – Deepdale Road, Mansfield Woodhouse;

March 20-22 – Thorpelands Avenue, Mansfield Woodhouse;

March 27-28 – Fisher Lane Park, Mansfield.

Work to plant more than 3,000 trees across Mansfield begins