Sheffield has been named Tree City of the World.
Sheffield has been crowned a “Tree City Of The World” just a few years after a long-running feud over the destruction of thousands of trees was settled.
Tree Cities of the World is an international programme that recognizes efforts to manage and preserve urban forests and trees in a sustainable manner.
With 137 “tree cities” worldwide, 19 UK cities have acquired the distinction.
Sheffield Street Tree Partnership expressed its delight at the city’s international recognition.
After a conflict between local residents and the municipal government, who had hired contractors to cut down several street trees, the partnership was founded in 2021.
The dispute centred on a £2.2 billion, 25-year street improvement project that began in 2010.
The authority said that the trees slated for removal were diseased, dying, dangerous, or destructive, and that it was planting new trees in their place.
Some of the trees cut were healthy but nevertheless considered dangerous or destructive, and opponents of the plan claimed that other options should have been tried to save them.
The Sheffield Tree Partnership was formed as a result of this to develop a new strategy for preserving street trees where practicable through highway engineering, monitoring and maintenance, and case-by-case judgments.
Sheffield City Council, Amey, Sheffield Tree Action Group (STAG), Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, and the Woodland Trust are all represented.
“Becoming a Tree City of the Future,” said Nathan Edwards, the partnership’s chair, to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Residents of the city may now rest certain that “we have the right governance and resources in place to maintain our urban forest today and for future generations,” according to the collaboration.
Meanwhile, Councillor Paul Wood said the award demonstrated the authority’s “thorough and established management strategy” to enhancing the city’s forest canopy.
“Being recognized as a Tree City of the World is a well-deserved honor that symbolizes the great progress made,” he said.
