So over 600,000 trees are to be planted at Doddington North Moor in Northumberland in the UK.

The scheme will be the largest woodland creation scheme in England in the last 30 years.  The Forestry Commission gave it a thumbs up, and it expects it to generate jobs.

The trees will include broadleaf and conifer trees and they should cover 350 hectares (i.e. the same space as 650 football pitches would take up).

Environmentally, it should:

• Boost red squirrel numbers, currently estimated to be 140,000 (compared with 2.5 million grey squirrels)
• Store 120,000 tonnes of carbon
• Manage flood risks

The scheme has been developed with the help of Government funding.  It will receie grants for planting.  Environment minister Therese Coffey said: "Our forests and woodlands are some of our most vital and cherished natural assets, and planting more trees is at the heart of our ambition to protect the environment for future generations.

"Doddington North Moor will make a significant contribution to our drive to plant 11 million trees across the nation and is a fantastic example of the kind of tree-planting schemes we want to see more of.

The Conservatives pledged to plant 11 million trees in five years, a pledge upheld in their 2015.  Unfortunately, what they propose to plant with one hand, they will destroy in the name of "progress" with the other - the HS2 railway being an example.

The scheme is expected to begin in March 2018 and take two to three years to complete.

Meantime in India, 66 million saplings were planted by volunteers in just 12 hours in a record-breaking environmental drive.

School report?  England could and must do better.