Aimed at local authorities, charities and community groups, the manual provides advice on selecting the right tree for the right place in towns and cities – ensuring the views of local communities are at the heart of decision-making and residents are properly consulted before street trees are felled.

Released during Green GB Week – a week of action dedicated to celebrating clean growth – the toolkit has been designed in recognition of the important role urban trees play in the environment. These include improving health and wellbeing, encouraging people to enjoy the outdoors, absorbing noise and reducing temperatures.

Bringing together knowledge from organisations such as the Forestry Commission, Forest Research and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the manual provides tips on choosing planting location, tree type and soil to maximise the environmental benefits, as well as highlighting the long term threats to trees from pests, disease and climate change.

Government Tree Champion Sir William Worsley said:

Whether they’re rooted in countryside woodland or in urban cityscapes, trees make our environment more attractive and a healthier place to live and work – which is why expertise in the planting and maintenance of urban trees is vital.

I hope this Urban Tree Manual will help to improve decision-making around the country to make sure our invaluable trees are preserved now – and for future generations.

The toolkit builds on work already underway by local authorities to help trees flourish, featuring case studies such as the planting at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which focused on choosing climate change resilient trees, and Observatree – a collaborative citizen science project which aims to spot new pest and disease threats to UK trees.

The release of the Urban Tree Manual forms part of the government’s wider work to protect and promote our precious trees, including our commitment to plant one million trees in our towns and cities and eleven million trees nationwide over the course of this parliament.

Protecting and planting more trees is a key part of our ambitious 25-Year Environment Plan, which will ensure we leave this environment in a better state for the next generation.

A new project to help landowners create vital new woodland and unlock the economic benefits of forestry has been launched in Cumbria’s ‘forgotten lands’.

The government’s Tree Champion Sir William Worsley today visited forestry project Snowdon Close in the area to launch the pilot Forestry Investment Zone.

With Cumbria’s ‘forgotten lands’ not traditionally seen as ripe for tree planting, the government will trial a new approach and work to encourage investment in the zone through measures such as the existing Countryside Stewardship and Woodland Carbon Fund grant schemes. A Forestry Investment Zone officer will also offer tailored support to businesses.

Government will also work with the forestry and timber processing industry to accelerate planting as new approaches to rural funding and payment for public goods are developed.

The pilot launch comes during Green GB Week, an annual week dedicated to highlighting the opportunities clean growth offers the UK – and raise understanding of how business and the public can contribute to tackling climate change.

Forestry Minister David Rutley said:

Planting more trees is central to our ambition to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it.

This innovative new pilot project will not only help landowners realise the benefits of woodland creation, but also drive forward our commitment to plant 11 million trees.

The Cumbria pilot is the first of its kind, with the ‘forgotten lands’ being the perfect place to establish large-scale forestry projects in order to bring economic and environmental benefits to the area. The project will focus on productive forestry, landscape enhancement, farming and local employment.

During his visit to the north east, Tree Champion Sir William Worsley said:

It is wonderful to be in Cumbria today to see this exciting new pilot kick off and to witness what will hopefully be the beginning of widespread investment in the forestry sector.

By making it easier for this area to be used for woodland creation we are not only helping the environment, but also giving the region a valuable economic boost.

The Cumbria Forestry Investment Zone pilot is scheduled to run for two years, and will be used as a test-case for rolling out the initiative more widely around the country.

Defra’s Clean Air Strategy, published in May 2018, proposed that further support under the Renewable Heat Incentive should not be available for biomass installations in urban areas with access to the gas grid.

This consultation sets out details of the proposed restrictions and asks for views on the scope and nature of these changes to RHI eligibility.

Cost of unleaded petrol (ULSP) and unleaded diesel (ULSD) in the UK as at Monday 15 October 2018.

Representatives of Belize, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and the US attended the meeting. Minor García, Deputy Director of the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP) represented Guatemala.

Deputy Director Garcia and other countries’ delegates were hosted by Thérèse Coffey, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. According to official statistics, illegal wildlife trade is worth more than £17 billion a year, and is directly linked to transnational organized crime structures.

Participating countries recognised that Illegal Wildlife Trade is a major issue in the Americas, and that it should be treated as a serious and organised crime that affects the economy, security, indigenous communities and ecosystems in the region.

Representatives decided to work collaboratively to tackle the trafficking of flora and fauna, including poaching, on a regional and international scale. To affirm this intention, all delegations recognised the need for regional collaboration on this issue.

At the end of the meeting, delegations welcomed the announcement from Peru that it will hold a regional conference on IWT in Lima in 2019, building on the work undertaken at London 2018.

This special meeting took place in the margins of the global conference on illegal wildlife trade, which ended 12 October in London and was organized by the British Government. Politicians, entrepreneurs and civil society from around the world met to seek for medium and long term solutions to tackle this problem.