Belfast reached a major milestone in their one million trees initiative after expanding Orchard community.
According to Belfast Live, Belfast has announced it has recently reached just under the 300,000 milestone, and has also started a community orchard project.
At a committee meeting at City Hall this week, council officers said reaching the 300,000 planted tree milestone was “a good news story.”
A report on the council’s overall Tree Strategy for the People and Communities Committee at City Hall states, “Since the establishment of the One Million Tree initiative in 2020 the council and its partners have planted a total of 293,516 new trees and 4,232 linear metres of hedging, what is more the Council remains committed to achieving 30 percent canopy cover by 2050.”
“It should be noted the National Trust were a major contributor to the 2025/26 tree planting figures, which came about from their successful application for funding from the Forest Service, as part of the afforestation project in the Glencairn and Ballygomartin area,” he added.
Launched in December 2020, and coordinated by Belfast City Council, the Belfast One Million Trees initiative is a 15-year project aiming to plant one million native trees by 2035 to tackle climate change, enhance biodiversity, and improve air quality.
The project was inspired by the Belfast Metropolitan Residents Group and is supported by the Woodland Trust, National Trust, and the Belfast Hills Partnership.
