THE Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) is to receive a £75,000 funding boost from SITA Trust to support woodland restoration work.
The cash will help the charity create at least 16 hectares (approximately 42 acres) of new native broadleaf woodland across the Yorkshire Dales and Nidderdale over the coming winter.
The SITA Trust grant will enable saplings, protective tree guards and stakes to be purchased, as well as funding ground preparation work, fencing, weeding, planting and on-site interpretation panels.
Chris Lodge, Woodland Development Officer at YDMT, said: “This is our third award from SITA since 2007, and thanks to their ongoing support, we’ve already helped to create 110 hectares of new woodland habitat across the region.”
But the charity says there is still a long way to go as only around 3.6 per cent of the Yorkshire Dales is covered with trees (of which two per cent is conifer plantations), compared to the national average of around nine per cent.
The benefits of planting trees include absorbing carbon dioxide to bring climate change benefits, creating habitats that support hundreds of wildlife species, enriching the landscape and providing spaces for people to enjoy.
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