Cambridge Canopy Project news
19th August 2020
Earlier this year Cambridge City Council launched the Cambridge Canopy Project . This
initiative aims to increase tree canopy cover in the city. This will help to make the city more
resilient to the impacts which are likely to be realised as a result of climate change and to
help mitigate against them.
The project is part of a broader European project called Nature Smart Cities . Six other cities
across Belgium, France, The Netherlands, and England are pilot testing different ‘green
infrastructure’ approaches to build climate resilience as part of this project. In other words,
each of the project cities will be using natural solutions in place of more traditional built or
engineered options. For example, sustainable urban drainage, rain gardens, or permeable
paving.
Trees are superheroes!
In Cambridge, the project is focused on the use of trees as a form of green infrastructure.
Trees are like the superheroes of the natural world, providing us with a vast array of
benefits. For example, trees clean the air and provide the oxygen we breath; provide
shelter from extremes of hot and cold; have positive impacts on our mental well-being and
physical health; regulate our climate; provide materials for building, heating or cooking,
and eating; and support whole networks of animals, plants, fungi, insects, and more.
Growing our Urban Forest
The headline aim of the Cambridge Canopy Project is to increase tree canopy cover in the
city by 2%, from the current level of 17% to 19% by 2050. To achieve this growth, we need
an additional 16,000 trees across the city. Whilst 2% sounds very modest, in reality it
equates to more than 80 hectares (or approximately 100 football pitches) of additional tree
canopy cover in the city.
You can read all about the project in the PDF attached, and on the council website here
You can also help by filling in this survey: