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One Tree per Resident Project

How to get involved in our project to support local communities, schools, parish councils, landowners and land managers to plant trees and hedgerows.

In response to the climate and biodiversity crises, Westmorland and Furness Council want to help our communities to plant one tree, or one metre of hedgerow equivalent, for every resident. This means planting a quarter of a million trees over a five-year period.

Trees have various benefits for climate, biodiversity and communities, such as:

  • absorbing and storing carbon
  • providing shade and shelter
  • increasing biodiversity and enhancing landscapes
  • capturing air pollution and improving air quality
  • improving water quality
  • reducing soil erosion
  • reducing flooding risk

Community Tree and Hedgerow Planting Fund

We have launched a new grant fund of £50,000 to support tree and hedgerow planting. 

The funding is available for schools, to help encourage biodiversity on their sites and increase the pupils’ relationship with nature. Along with charities, Parish and Town Councils, community groups and other eligible groups. 

This Community Tree and Hedgerow Planting Fund will help contribute towards our One Tree per Resident project and increase biodiversity across the Westmorland and Furness footprint.

Applications close on Monday 10 March 2025.

The application form, application guidance and subsidy control are below: 

If you have any questions please contact us.

How to get involved

There are many different ways in which you help us to reach our aim of one tree per resident.

If would like more details or want to tell us how many trees or hedgerows you have planted so we can count them, please contact us.

Schools

There a number of organisations that support schools, such as:

The One Tree per Resident project also includes hedgerows. If you have a school fence which you want to make more nature friendly, why not plant a hedgerow around it?

Parish Councils

Many parish councils own land that may be suitable for tree and hedgerow planting, there are a variety of grants that can be used for parish councils, including:

Communities

Working with individuals and communities is a key part of our project and there are a number of organisations that provide free trees and funding for community planting.

Conservation Volunteers and the Woodland Trust both provide communities with free trees. 

The International Tree Foundation offers UK Community Tree Planting Grants.

Landowners and Managers

Working with private landowners and managers will be very important to complete the One Tree per Resident project. Possible funding streams for this include: 

Contact us

We're keen to hear from you if you:

  • are interested in linking as a partner
  • would like to get involved, or have any suggestions about how to get involved
  • want to record your tree planting under the One Tree per Resident project
  • have any questions about the scheme

Please get in touch by email: futuretrees@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.

Partners

Our current partners include:

  • Forestry Commission
  • Lake District National Park
  • RAISE Community Forest
  • Ullswater Catchment Management CIC
  • Woodland Trust
  • Yorkshire Dales National Park

Progress

To date, we have planted 41,544 trees which is 17% of the total needed to achieve the goal of One Tree per Resident. 

This planting has been delivered by council teams, supported by the Community Orchard and Micro Woodland initiatives funded through the Coronation Living Heritage Fund.

Our key partner, Raise: Cumbria Community Forest, has also played a vital role in delivering additional planting schemes.