Mayor of London announces seven-figure investment to support green space projects

Funding to boost public green spaces and plant more trees in London is being made available by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to future-proof the capital against the climate crisis as the COP15 summit is putting biodiversity firmly in the global spotlight this week.

The second round of the Green and Resilient Spaces Fund is now open for applications from councils and other organisations, with £3m available for projects to create or improve green spaces and an additional £800k for large scale tree planting to boost London’s climate resilience.

The fund will prioritise projects in areas of the capital that are particularly vulnerable to climate change, areas with low tree canopy cover, or areas where Londoners live more than a 10-minute walk away from green space.

The tree planting grants will focus on creating publicly accessible, species-rich woodland and planting large trees to provide shade, cool London’s streets, combat heatwaves and tackle flooding.

Increasing green spaces and the number of trees in London aim to help to “protect and future-proof” the capital, cooling the city and providing shade to Londoners, and will also make London more resilient to flooding.

The first round of the Green and Resilient Spaces Fund confirmed this year is supporting six projects which will be completed by March 2024, which together are expected to plant over 2,000 new trees and improve over 57 hectares of green space.

The Green and Resilient Spaces fund is just one of the many ways the Mayor is supporting improvement of green and blue spaces. Since 2016 the Mayor has invested over £26m in greening the city in all 32 boroughs and the City of London, including £4m through Grow Back Greener grants to over 130 community green space projects.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan commented: “The climate emergency and loss of our biodiversity are two of the biggest global threats we face.

“In the past few years, we’ve seen some of the devastating effects of climate change, with flash flooding and extreme temperatures destroying homes, schools, and businesses. Sadly, these kinds of events will only become more frequent and, as the COP15 conference is making clear this week, biodiversity is crucial to climate resilience.

“Trees and green spaces have a vital role to play in tackling the impacts of climate change and we are already seeing some great work happening thanks to the funding invested in round one, which is helping to increase biodiversity and protect nature in our city. That is why I am pleased to be inviting bids for more exemplary greening and tree planting projects.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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