Barking and Dagenham has joined the likes of Toronto, New York City and Paris in receiving the special accolade of being recognised as a ‘Tree City of the World’.
Despite not being a city, Barking and Dagenham received the backing of the organisers of the scheme the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, along with the Arbor Day Foundation and are now recognised as a ‘Tree City of the World’
The Tree Cities of the World programme is an international effort to recognize cities and towns committed to ensuring that their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed, and duly celebrated.
There are currently more than 74,000 trees in the borough, about 9,000 streets with trees and 28 parks in the borough covering more than 460 hectares of public open space.
On top of this, the borough also recently received 272 trees from the government’s urban tree challenge fund and the Mayor of London’s greener city fund.
Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Public Realm, said: “We want to be the green capital of the capital, so seeing the borough’s name up alongside international cities such as Milan and Madrid, is a step in the right direction.
“Trees have a variety of benefits for us all, and that’s why we’re investing in our green spaces and creating a place where people want to work and live.”
The borough becomes one of only five places in the UK to be recognised by the international programme.
