Tree Planting
STAG is now actively involved in the complicated process of getting street trees planted in Sheffield. There’s lots to do, so please get in touch, join in and help!
During the street tree protests, crowdfunders raised a fairly large amount of money (around £8000), originally to help protestors with possible legal fees. As legal action is now unlikely, the plan is to now follow the original crowdfunder promise, to use this remaining money specifically for planting street trees. STAG also has further funds that could be used for tree planting, if we can make this project a success.
In the first phase of the project we hope to focus on planting street trees in low ‘tree equity score’ areas. ‘Tree equity’ is a combined measure of things like existing tree cover, income, health and air pollution. A low score indicates an area in most need of investment to increase tree canopy cover. You can read more about the ‘Tree Equity Score’ here.
Getting suitable street trees planted in appropriate places and arranging the vital support from local residents – to reduce the likelihood of the trees dying quickly through vandalism or lack of watering – is not a simple process. However, STAG has a lot of practical experience (both in this year’s Committee and amongst members) of navigating through the steps required to get street trees planted and to arranging the vital work of helping the trees survive for at least first 3 years to get them established (after which Amey take some responsibility for replacing them if they die).
Getting the trees planted is quite complicated, but the work doesn’t end there. It’s really important, given the local effects of climate change, that the trees are watered sufficiently for at least 3 years after they are planted. We can’t rely on the Council or Amey to do this, and if the trees die within 3 years they may not be replaced by Amey – a complete waste of STAG’s precious resources. It would be irresponsible to waste the donated money by planting trees in a way that risks their long-term survival, so arranging a support network of local residents for the trees is a vital part of the whole process. Outreach is going to be key!
We plan to gather a group of members together, interested in helping in this big project, and there will be a wide range of activities involved. The group will organise to discuss member’s experience and expertise on the whole tree planting process, and plan what tree species to choose, outreach to community groups and residents in different areas across Sheffield to get their buy-in, how to select target areas, organising local residents in a tree-watering scheme etc etc.
Amey is clear that the practical deadline for assigning suitable places for street trees to be planted, selecting the species and ordering saplings etc every year, is the end of March each year – for planting in the following Winter season. So for the current phase we’ll need to have done a lot of work to get everything, including local resident’s support, firmed up by March 2026.
Please get in touch if you are interested. It wont happen without enthusiastic member involvement!
