Rotherham-based Harworth Group has secured an England Woodland Creation Offer grant to plant 150,000 trees on its 230-acre Highthorn site in Morpeth, Northumberland.
The new woodland will feature over 150,000 trees, comprising predominantly native broadleaf species with some complementary conifer and scrub. The initiative will also provide significant benefits to the local community, including the creation of a new network of permissive footpaths to enhance public access.
Alex Standerwick, the Group’s Natural Capital Manager, said: “The woodland plantation at Highthorn demonstrates our commitment to stewarding the land in our portfolio and delivering on our Net Zero Carbon Pathway to mitigate emissions created through our wider regeneration activities. By leveraging our legacy land portfolio, we are not only creating habitats that enhance biodiversity but also ensuring that the carbon credits we generate are authentic and deliver long-term social and environmental value. This project, alongside our ongoing efforts at Chevington North, is a clear example of how Harworth is embedding sustainability into everything we do.”
The Highthorn scheme forms part of Harworth’s Net Zero Carbon Pathway and ambition to achieve NZC status by 2030 through supporting the Group’s carbon sequestration initiatives.
Harworth anticipates that this woodland plantation could create up to 25,000 Pending Issuance Units, and Harworth will ensure the authenticity of the carbon credits generated.
Earlier this year, Harworth’s first woodland plantation, at Chevington North, also in Morpeth, Northumberland, where over 110,000 trees were planted, opened to the public. Harworth is currently working with the Soil Association to validate the carbon credits generated by the Chevington North woodland. The addition of the Highthorn woodland will bring the total number of trees planted by Harworth in Northumberland to over 260,000.
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