Medway Liberal Democrats support the International Day of Forests - 21st March

We want to protect these spaces as a vital asset for everyone in Medway and have consistently been calling on the Council to adopt a coherent, credible Local Plan to help protect the environment against developments of this nature. Building on 'brown build' sites as opposed to destroying Green Belt sites.

The Council has also acknowledged a shortfall in tree planting and data supplied by Medway Norse shows that since 2012, over 1500 trees that the Council have removed have not been replaced. It should be a priority for the Council to eliminate this shortfall and as part of a commitment to the creation of a new urban forest in Medway, protect its existing trees, as well as extensive new planting.

Liberal Democrats want to secure the provision of Medway's green infrastructure and for all the progress that has been made, there is still undoubtedly more to be done.

ENDS

Additional Information for Editors:

· Medway Urban Green Spaces Forum - Trees can have environmental and health benefits in urban areas. Their known benefits can include increasing resilience to climate change, filtering air pollution, absorbing carbon dioxide, providing habitats for wildlife and impacting positively on mental health and well-being. For more information - https://mugsforum.org/urban-forest/

· The UK is one of the least forested countries in Europe, with just 10% of England covered by woodland, compared with 31% of France and 37% of Spain.

· According to figures published in June 2019, tree-planting in England fell well short of targets in the previous year. Only 1,420 hectares (3,507 acres) of trees were planted in England in the year to March 2019, against the government's target of 5,000 hectares.