Tree planting and
woodland creation
The Evergreen fund dedicates £100,000 each year to native tree planting.
Why plant trees?
Planting trees and woodland is a major part of a natural climate solution.
Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂), a major greenhouse gas, and store carbon, helping to combat climate change. Forests, woodland, orchards, jungles, swamps, marshes, hedgerows, peat bogs, they all suck carbon out of the air and lock it away.
Trees support biodiversity. Forests are home to over 80% of terrestrial species. Trees provide habitat and food for countless animals and plants.
On a global scale, tree planting is a scalable and cost-effective tool for mitigating climate change. Large-scale reforestation can restore ecosystems and improve resilience to extreme weather.
Trees play a key role in the water cycle by absorbing and redistributing water, reducing runoff and preventing floods.
Tree roots bind soil, preventing erosion and maintaining soil fertility.
Trees contribute to air purification. They filter pollutants like nitrogen oxides, ammonia, and sulfur dioxide from the air, improving air quality.
Being around trees and green spaces has also proven to improve mental health and wellbeing. Just a single visit per week to a forested area can lower the stress hormone Cortisol. Lowering cortisol improves mood, attention span, and productivity, and can improve the outcomes of medical treatments.
How We Do It
In partnership with Ground Control, many of our customers have a need or ambition to reduce or offset carbon emissions.
They want to be involved with large scale woodland creation/ tree planting projects or have land that could be utilised for this purpose. We support our customers in their environmental ambitions through our traditional, comprehensive services in tree planting and biodiversity enhancement projects. We want to help amplify impact with our own commitment of £100,000 for new tree planting every year.
Likewise, there are many private landowners throughout the UK who want to dedicate land for tree planting. We are able to assist and support private individuals who have a minimum of two hectares to dedicate for protected native woodland planting.
We will provide project management for bringing a wide range of stakeholders together to sequester carbon through tree planting. We will provide professional support to customers in reaching their sustainability targets. To amplify impact, we will access government grants and carbon incentives, partnering with land owners/charities/councils using our tree planting and establishment capabilities alongside Evergreen Funds to amplify impact.
Each year, we dedicate up to £100,000 to support native woodland creation projects that meet the following criteria:
Five hectares (minimum)
Woodland to be legally protected for 100 years +
Project is eligible for Woodland Creation Grants
A management plan is implemented and audited by the Forestry Commission for a minimum of 10 years
Planting is eligible for woodland carbon offsetting incentives
Evergreen tree planting projects
Devana Habitat Bank. Partners: Ground Control Evergreen Investments Ltd. Date: 2024. Tree count: 12,000. Location: Cambridgeshire
Trees For Cities. Partners: Trees for Cities. Date: 2024. Tree count: 4,900. Location: Central London
Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Partners: Forestry England. Date: 2023. Tree count: 2,000. Location: Hampshire
Old Bolingbroke Village Green. Partners: OpenReach. Date 2021, Tree count: 3,700. Location: Lincolnshire
Wildfell Centre for Environmental Recovery. Partners: Ground Control Evergreen Investments Ltd. Date: 2021 Tree count: 97,000. Location: Essex
Essex Forest Initiative. Partners: Woodland Trust, Essex County Council. Date: 2020. Tree count: 15,300. Location, Essex
Little Grange Farm. Partners: Little Grange Farm. Date: 2020. Tree Count: 4,750. Location: Essex
Make it Wild. Partners: Make It Wild. Date: 2020. Tree count: 5,800. Location: Yorkshire
Eastham Country Park. Partners: Wirral Council. Date: 2020. Tree count: 1,520. Location: The Wirral
Trent River Trust: Partners: Woodland Trust; Nottingham Piscatorial Society. Date: 2020. Tree count: 5,500. Location: Nottinghamshire
Ourboretum. Partners: Cotswold Conservation Board; BBC Radio Gloucester. Date:2020. Tree Count: 2,020. Location: Gloucestershire
Cotswold Conservation Board Partners. Cotswold Conservation Board Wardens. Date: 2020. Tree Count:1,255. Location: The Cotswolds
Little Cowbridge Wood. Partners: Little Cowbridge Wood, Date: 2019. Tree Count: 22,893. Location: Essex.
Chelmsford Tree Planting
Working together with Essex County Council and the Woodland Trust, the Evergreen Fund – Ground Controls’ unique sustainability fund has paid for the planting and supervision costs of the 15,000 saplings, with work to create two new woodlands at Chelmer Valley, Essex.
Little Cowbridge Wood
In 2019, we planted 22,893 native hardwood trees to create nine hectares of protected woodland in Billericay, Essex.
Featured news
Volunteers from Ground Control have continued to support this new, protected habitat for biodiversity with replanting and management.
