Dudley Wood Primary School planting

The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 which invites people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee.”

Dudley Wood Primary School, planted their mini forest on land adjacent to the school on Friday 4 March.

The children planted trees throughout the morning, supported by school staff, the council’s green care staff and wardens from the Saltwells Team. The Friends Of Saltwells Nature Reserve also came along, as well as The Prince's Trust trainees who have been learning new skills at Saltwells Nature Reserve, providing tools and planting power.

The council has already committed £50,000 to increase canopy coverage across the borough, including planting trees along the borough’s highways as well as increasing canopy coverage in six wards which have less coverage. It will continue to work with Friends Groups, organisations like Woodland Trust, Trees for Cities, Severn Trent, Earthwatch UK and Friends of the Earth to identify and support planting across the borough.

For the Queen’s Green Canopy Project, the authority will be working with a range of partners and friends groups to undertake projects such as restocking ancient hedgerows, planting trees and whips in a range of green spaces across the borough.

A key date will be 11 March date, the 70th day of the year when the Mayor will be planting a large majestic tree in the formal garden of King George V Park, Wordsley, contributed by Midlands Forestry.

The authority is also working with friend groups and Severn Trent Water on their Tiny Forests project. As the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Official Nature and Carbon Neutral Supporter, Severn Trent has created 72 Tiny Forests in urban areas across the West Midlands, helping Birmingham 2022 to leave a lasting legacy. Each Tiny Forest links to one of the nations and territories competing at the Games.

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for public realm, said:

We’ve committed to investing £50,000 to boost the borough’s canopy coverage and we’re really pleased to expand our planting plans through projects like the Queen’s Green Canopy.

It’s really important that the younger generation feels included in these projects and I’m delighted that we’ve worked with Dudley Wood Primary, the Friends of Saltwells and The Prince’s Trust to make this event happen. It just shows how much we can achieve when we all work together.

Wendy Rickers, Assistant Head & Curriculum Lead, Dudley Wood Primary, said: 

We were delighted to be invited to take part in this initiative. One of the key concepts that threads through our curriculum is sustainability, so this is an excellent opportunity for our pupils to learn more about this, working as part of our community to improve our local environment.

Everyone from individuals to Scout and Girlguiding groups, villages, cities, counties, schools and corporates will be encouraged to play their part to enhance our environment by planting trees during the official planting season between October to March. Tree planting will commence again in October 2022, through to the end of the Jubilee year.

With a focus on planting sustainably, the QGC will encourage planting of trees to create a legacy in honour of The Queen’s leadership of the Nation, which will benefit future generations.