A total of 619 heavy-standard trees have been planted in streets and green spaces across Barking and Dagenham during last year’s planting season.

The tree planting forms part of the council’s commitment to being a cleaner, greener borough, having declared a climate emergency in 2020, alongside a range of other measures to reduce its carbon footprint, including increasing recycling rates and launching the Cleaner, Greener Barking and Dagenham campaign.

The borough has been recognised internationally for its trees, having been awarded ‘Tree City of the World’ twice in recent years, appearing alongside the likes of San Francisco, Washington DC and Barcelona. It boasts 28 parks and green spaces, providing 466 hectares of publicly open land – more than three times the size of Hyde Park.

Councillor Kashif Haroon, Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Climate Change, visited Public Realm staff planting some of the borough’s new trees. He said: “We’re very proud of the work we’ve been doing to make Barking and Dagenham a cleaner, greener place to live.

“Trees have important benefits for the environment and all of us, and that’s why we need to continue investing in our borough’s streets and green spaces for the benefit of all of our communities.”