Source: City of Portsmouth
Newly planted trees have been vandalised around Portsmouth, hampering efforts to increase the city’s tree numbers.
Five young trees were damaged in St George’s play park, Portsea. It follows similar recent acts of vandalism to small numbers of new trees at Stamshaw Park, Buckingham Green and Great Salterns Recreation Ground.
Around 2,500 trees were planted by Portsmouth City Council teams and residents over the winter, as part of a wider project to increase tree numbers across the city.
Cllr Kimberly Barrett, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Greening the City, said:
“Because we’re a city, our tree numbers are lower than other more rural areas, so our planting work is especially important because trees bring so many benefits. They help to reduce the impact of heavy rainfall, provide important shade in hot weather, are good for improving local air quality, and help with people’s wellbeing.
“Each year we get a limited amount of funding for new trees, and it takes considerable effort and resource to plant and care for them. For example, residents have been helping our teams to water young trees during the recent dry spell to help them establish, showing the huge community effort involved.
“So it’s extremely sad to see this senseless vandalism taking place by a few people, which undermines the hard work of our teams and our communities.”
Thanks to Portsea residents quickly reporting the recent damage, some of the trees were replanted to give them a chance of survival.
The council is calling on residents to report any incidents of damaged trees by calling 023 9283 4092 or emailing cityhelpdesk@portsmouthcc.gov.uk