THE Environment Agency is celebrating the planting of 80,000 in Cumbria

The agency has co-ordinated the planting of over 80,000 trees across the county in the past 12 years.

The planting has been completed with the help of pupils from a number of schools and partners across the North of England.

Volunteers are seeking to plant the next 3,000 trees by March 2022.

The trees have provided riverbank stabilisation and have created shaded areas to boost fish populations.

They have also helped to slow the flow of rivers during high rainfall and brought countless benefits for biodiversity and wildlife.

The achievement supports the new coastal community forest being created in Cumbria.

This was announced by Defra, England’s Community Forest and Cumbria County Council on Saturday.

It marked the start of National Tree Week.

This is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration.

The new coastal community forest will help deliver the England Trees Action Plan, published earlier this year.

The England Tree Action Plan sets out the government’s long-term vision for the treescape it wants to see in the country by 2050.

The tree planting was funded by money from the sale of Environment Agency fishing licences and a number of partner organisations including local angling associations, Natural England, Lake District National Park, Rivers trusts and Forestry England.

Mike Farrell, spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:

“Planting over 80,000 trees is a significant achievement that brings countless benefits for people, the environment and the wildlife that depend on it.

“I would like to thank all our partners for the support and commitment that they have shown over the years. Without them, this achievement would not have been possible.

“Our combined efforts to create new woodlands have boosted biodiversity, helped safeguard our environment for future generations and supported sustainable rural communities.

“We are always on the lookout for volunteers to spend the day tree planting with us and with three thousand trees ready to be planted between now and March 2022 I would like to urge anyone interested to get in touch.”