AstraZeneca UK is partnering with Forestry England and Borders Forest Trust (alongside their global partner One Tree Planted) to launch a multi-year programme to plant over one million trees across the country by 2025.

The AZ Forest programme is part of AstraZeneca’s Ambition Zero Carbon commitment to be zero carbon across its operations by the end of 2025, and carbon negative across its entire value chain by 2030, as a part of the global AZ Forest programme to plant and maintain 50 million trees worldwide by 2025.

“As a company that puts the health of people and our communities at the forefront of everything we do, we are committed to ensuring we do right by the planet. We are proud to work in partnership to accelerate action against climate change, promote biodiversity, and raise awareness of the value reforestation brings to society and human health,” said Professor Jason Snape, head of environmental protection, AstraZeneca. “This reforestation initiative in the UK is an important part of our commitment to plant 50 million trees worldwide by 2025, with planting already underway in Australia, Indonesia and France.”

Through Forestry England, planting efforts will initially be focused on Thetford Forest, 30 miles from AstraZeneca’s Cambridge Discovery Centre and global headquarters, and in Goyt Valley, ten miles from the company’s Macclesfield manufacturing site, as both areas have suffered in recent years from the impact of pests and disease. In addition, the partnership with AstraZeneca will support the creation of new forests throughout England as part of an ambitious woodland creation programme being led by Forestry England, which aims to plant at least 2,000 hectares of new, high-quality woodland over the next five years.

In Scotland, Borders Forest Trust and One Tree Planted will focus on planting 221,000 native trees in two of their ‘wild heart’ sites. Reviving the Wild Heart of Southern Scotland is a restoration initiative to bring back lost habitats, such as native woodlands and montane scrub, to an area with one of the lowest amounts of native woodland in Scotland.

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