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Cambridge City Council

Cambridge Canopy Project

Image: Montage of trees in Cambridge, with the Cambridge Canopy Project logo

The Cambridge Canopy Project was our pilot project for the Interreg 2 Seas Nature Smart Cities across the 2 Seas project.

The project aimed to increase tree canopy cover in the city, which will help the city adapt to climate change. The project ran from September 2018 to March 2023.

You can find out what we achieved in our achievements video.

Tree canopy cover is the name given to the layer of leaves and branches that cover the ground. It is measured as a percentage of the total area.

Forest Research reports the average tree canopy cover figure is 16% in England. Cambridge had around 17% tree canopy cover at the beginning of the project. We aimed to increase this to 19%, requiring more than 800,000m2 of new tree cover.

The project aimed to:

  • develop standard approaches to tree planting, protection, and management, and to public engagement. This will complement and enhance our current arboricultural strategy
  • develop tools to help us assess tree canopy cover, to support sustainable management and identify areas that need work
  • contribute to and boost tree planting and tree protection, to help mitigate the projected impacts brought about by climate change

The project also aimed to show the value of investing in the urban forest as a form of green infrastructure.

The project's legacy will help the city adapt to climate change. It will do this by increasing tree canopy cover and contributing to the sustainable management of the local urban forest.

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