Manchester City Council has set out a plan to plant around 64,000 new trees all across the city region by 2050.
Since the launching the region’s first ‘tree strategy’ all the way back in 2005, more than 125,000 new trees and tree hedges – including 125 community orchards, and fruit tree groves – have been planted all across Manchester by both Manchester City Council and partner organisations such as City of Trees, the orchard project, and others.
And that “growing ambition” isn’t stopping there either, as several hundreds more trees are set to be planted over the next six months.
It’s just one part of an emerging 10-year Tree and Woodland Action Plan that’s ultimately setting out to “boost Manchester‘s tree cover” and will be considered at an Environment, Climate Change and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee this week.
The new plan comes after Council-commissioned ‘Growing Manchester’s Trees’ study, which looked at how the city’s treescape has evolved, and how it can be improved for the future, concluded that there’s a significant scope to increase the city’s tree canopy cover from its current level of almost 19% of tree cover to almost 22%.
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Manchester City Council sets out plan to plant tens of thousands of new trees / Credit: Oliver & David Dixon (via Geograph)
The draft of the Tree and Woodland Action Plan that’s being considered this week is said to “envisage the Council working with organisations and other stakeholders across the city” to achieve that goal.
This means that an estimated 64,000 new trees would need to be planted.
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Reaching this ambition will require new collaborative bids to sources such as the Government’s Urban Tree Challenge Fund.
After the planning meeting this week, the Council insists that local Manchester residents will be consulted on the new Tree and Woodland Action Plan – which sits alongside the Council’s existing Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy to promote and protect green open spaces and waterways – before it would officially be adopted.
Around 64,000 new trees could be planted across the city by 2050 / Credit: Alex Indigo (via Flickr)
Should the plan be approved by local Councillors and Manchester residents, it would be adopted sometime in early in 2024.
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“With every year that passes, it feels like we understand more about the benefits of trees – not just in combatting climate change by removing and storing carbon but also in supporting resilience to its impacts by reducing flood risks and providing shade,” admitted Councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the Executive Member for Environment at Manchester City Council.
“Tens of thousands of trees have been planted since we first started looking at this issue strategically and we now have a better understanding than ever of where our trees are and where more are needed.
“Now we want to work with residents and organisations in the city to support the planting of even more.”
Featured Image – City of Trees
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Chester Zoo named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors
Emily Sergeant
Congratulations are in order, yet again, for Chester Zoo… as this time its been one of England’s most popular attractions.
Merely months after being named the UK’s best zoo for the second year running, thanks to receiving more than 11,000 ‘excellent’ reviews from TripAdvisor, Chester Zoo has now got itself another prestigious title, as a major VisitEngland (VE) report has ranked it the third most-visited ‘paid for’ attraction in England – and the most visited outside of London.
The national tourist board for England gathered information from a total of 1,373 attractions across the country, and ranked the UK’s biggest charity zoo as the third overall in terms of popularity, with a whopping 1.9 million visitors in 2024 alone.
The Tower of London took top spot with 2.9 million visitors, while the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was second place with 2.3 million visitors.
When it comes to free attractions, on the other hand, it wad the British Museum that claimed the top spot with 6.5 million visitors, while the Natural History Museum (5.9 million visitors) took second place, and the Tate Modern (4.6 million visitors) got third.
So as you can see, the south and London in particular is a pretty dominating force in England’s tourism industry – which is why it’s even more impressive to see Chester Zoo ranked so highly.
The new VE title also comes after the zoo was recently given £4 million of lottery funding to help ‘transform’ the local environment and restore wildlife habitats across the Cheshire and wider North West region.
Not only that, but if course follows Chester Zoo’s unveiling of its new immersive experience named Heart of Africa, which is the the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK and is home to 57 iconic African species.
Chester Zoo has been named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors / Credit: Chester Zoo
“As a major international wildlife charity, everything we do is focused on supporting global conservation,” commented Chester Zoo’s Commercial Director, Dom Strange.
“Whether it’s caring for highly-threatened animals and plants, making scientific discoveries, influencing Government environmental policies, impacting the National Curriculum to better connect young people with nature, or our conservation efforts in around 20 countries, we’re fully committed to protecting endangered species for the future.
“But none of this would be possible without our visitors.
“Every person who comes to the zoo for a fun and inspiring day out is helping to fund our vital work, so we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us to rank so highly in VisitEngland’s latest report.”
Featured Image –
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Manchester Museum saves a ‘national treasure’ to ensure it stays in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Museum has made a stunning new addition to its natural history collections, and in the process has ensured a ‘national treasure’ stays in the UK.
Not long after claiming the coveted title of European Museum of the Year for 2025, Manchester Museum has done it again – this time working together with John Rylands Library to acquire Henry Dresser’s unique personal copy of his anthology A History of the Birds of Europe so that this ‘invaluable resource’ can remain in the UK for future generations.
The beautifully-illustrated collection of books provide an important historical record to help understand how and why bird populations have changed over time.
Dresser’s personal copy is heavily-annotated with personal notes and observations.
These books are deemed to be of ‘outstanding significance’, not only for scientific purposes but also for their aesthetic value, as they have also been illustrated by some of the leading wildlife artists of the day.
The volumes were recognised as a national treasure by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, which is supported by the Arts Council, and this meant that the Government placed a temporary export deferral on them to allow time for UK buyers to raise the funds to keep them in the country.
Brilliantly, the acquisition of these books reunites them with Dresser’s own bird specimens that are already cared for by Manchester Museum, including species such as the Slender-billed curlew, which is now believed to be extinct.
The now-extinct species’ presence in both Dresser’s beautifully-annotated volumes and the ornithological collections at Manchester Museum highlights the vital role that historical records play in tracking biodiversity loss over time to uncover the long-term impact of environmental change.
Manchester Museum has saved a ‘national treasure’ to ensure it stays in the UK / Credit: Manchester Museum
“Threats to the natural world and biodiversity have never been greater and while this anthology has historical value, it also speaks to the urgent issues of the present,” commented Esme Ward, who is the Director of Manchester Museum.
“These books are breathtakingly beautiful, and by bringing them together with natural history collections, we believe they will not only provide scientific benefit, but also capture the hearts of future ornithologists and conservationists.”
A History of the Birds of Europe will be officially unveiled at a private view on Friday 27 June, before being displayed to the public for the first time in Manchester Museum’s ‘Living Worlds’ gallery from Saturday 28 June 2025 right through until Sunday 25 January 2026.
Emily Sergeant -
6th November 2023 
