An ambitious new campaign launched on Wednesday 20th November to encourage Bristol businesses to plant One Tree Per Employee and help to grow a quarter of a million new trees in the city by 2030.

One Tree Per Employee is the first campaign to be delivered under the banner of Replant Bristol, a catalyst  group comprising the Forest of Avon Trust, Bristol City Council, the Bristol Tree Forum, and the Woodland Trust, and builds on the success of the One Tree Per Child scheme which has seen 58,000 trees planted since 2014.

The new campaign will contribute towards achieving the target set by the One City Plan of doubling canopy cover by 2046 and kicks off in time for Christmas, with the aim of encouraging Bristol’s businesses to buy trees for the 250,000 employees in the city as Christmas presents.

Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, said: “Trees are key to us tackling air pollution and fighting climate change, so we’re calling on Bristol businesses great and small to get involved in the project this Christmas and help us achieve our bold ambition of planting a quarter of a million trees by 2030.”

Global architecture practice BDP, which has 70 staff in its Bristol studio, is the first company to sign up to the scheme and pledge to plant One Tree Per Employee.

Daniel Stewart Smith, Associate Landscape Architect & Urban Designer at BDP, said: “As landscape architects, and urbanists we understand the value of trees and the benefits they offer to our urban environment, so we’re excited to take part in the campaign.

“We’re proud to have a strong base in Bristol and wanted to do something a bit different to give back to our staff and the city, so buying One Tree Per Employee was the perfect opportunity for us to do that.”

Councillor Asher Craig, Deputy Mayor for Communities at Bristol City Council said: “Trees add colour and life to our urban spaces, improving health and wellbeing while creating natural wildlife corridors and reducing pollution.

“We want Bristol’s fantastic businesses, whether they employ one person or one thousand, to collaborate with us to help shape our beautiful green city. Imagine what it will look like if we all work together.”

Businesses can get involved in the scheme by:

• Visiting forestofavontrust.org/replant-bristol and donating £10 to plant a tree for every employee.
• Planting trees for employees on their own land.
• Buying trees for staff to plant in their gardens.
• Donating land to Replant Bristol for planting.

The city’s urban forest of 600,000 trees is worth an estimated £280 million and a nationally recognised i-Tree Eco 6 study identifies that it:

• Stores 360,000 tonnes of CO2 (a major factor in climate change) and removes 14,000 tonnes more each year, equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of 9,000 cars.
• Removes 100 tonnes of air pollution annually (worth £1.6 million), soaks up 90,000 cubic metres of water which could flood our streets and provides shade in our increasingly hot summers. [1]

In addition to pioneering the One Tree Per Employee scheme, Replant Bristol will enable Bristolians to adopt, plant or sponsor a tree, become Tree Champions, take part in volunteering opportunities and sign the tree charter.

Schools and community groups can apply for free tree packs from the Woodland Trust who also offer advice and support to landowners too.

One Tree Per Employee has been inspired by the One Tree Per Child campaign, which launched in 2014 and has since led to 57,000 trees being planted, with 6,000 trees continuing to be planted annually.

To find out more and get involved, visit www.forestofavontrust.org/replant-bristol

[1] https://bristoltreeforum.org/2019/04/09/bristols-i-tree-eco-survey-is-published/