Devon County Council Extends Emergency Tree Fund for Winter

Devon County Council has prolonged an emergency tree fund to cover the entire winter period. According to the authority, the Free Tree Scheme, operated by the county council and supported by the Woodland Trust’s Emergency Tree Fund, has facilitated the planting of over 50,000 trees throughout Devon since 2019. This initiative is designed to assist the council in achieving its carbon net zero objectives and to substitute trees that have succumbed to ash dieback. The trust states that ash dieback is a disease projected to eliminate as much as 80% of ash trees within the UK. Councillor Andrea Davis commented that the tree planting programme has been “incredibly successful” to date. She stated: “When you consider the total number of trees that have been planted through our initiatives and as part of the Devon Ash Dieback Resilience Forum, it’s encouraging to see that the figures highlight that we’re more than living up to our commitment to ensure that three trees replace every mature tree lost through ash dieback.” The county council reported that the fund has enabled tree planting activities across over 300 locations within Devon. It further indicated an expectation to plant a minimum of 27,000 additional trees prior to March 2025, which would bring the total count to approximately 77,000.