Water companies have announced plans to plant 11 million new trees in England by 2030 to help the industry’s effort to become carbon neutral.

The firms will be planting trees on around 15,000 acres of land across England, as well as supporting work to restore original woodland and improving habitats that store carbon.

Some trees will be planted on land owned by utility firms, but land for planting will also be provided by partners including local authorities, the National Trust, The Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB, industry body WaterUK said.

The scheme will include planting trees in towns and cities.

The Woodland Trust has agreed to work with the water companies to identify sites and manage the planting programme once it has been developed, Water UK said.

Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Show all 35 1 /35 Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa More than half of Britain’s tea is grown in Kenya, with 62,000 tons imported to the UK in 2017 Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Yorkshire Tea has pledged to plant a million trees by the end of the year, half in the UK, and half in Kenya. The project encourages smallholder tea farmers to plant trees that provide benefits such as additional crops, protection from wind and food for their livestock Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Thanks to the benefits he has seen from planting trees, Patrick Kimathi, 52, a farmer from Kianjogu, has been able to install a chaff cutter, a mechanical device for cutting napier grass he grows as fodder for his livestock, as well as a mini biogas plant that converts cow dung into fuel for a cooking stove Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Kimathi’s house, where he lives with his wife, Priscilla, daughter, Nancy, 23, a qualified teacher, and two sons, 15 and 19. He’s been farming here for 30 years Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Avocado trees are popular in Meru because they reach maturity within two to three years, provide shade for crops and don’t require chemicals Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Local buyers come to the farm to cut down and collect the avocados they want to sell Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Grevillea trees, originally from southeastern Australia, are used as a windbreak to protect the tea bushes from wind and dust Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Grevillea on Kimathi’s farm: the lower branches can be cut down, dried and used to feed livestock during a drought. Some farmers also plant the trees to keep out wild elephants Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Festus Mugambi Mimuga’s tea farm is the best in Imenti because his bushes are so flat Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Mimuga starts work at 3am and works through to 4pm six days a week Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Hand-picking a bud with two leaves is best for high-quality tea Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Kenyan tea is widely considered as some of the best in the world Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa A tea picker empties her basket at a buying centre, ready to sell to the local factory Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Bags of tea leaves ready to start the drying process at Imenti factory Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Workers begin sorting the day’s haul Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa The leaves are emptied into long, heated troughs and tossed by hand to ensure they are evenly dried Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa After the tea has been packed, it is either shipped directly to buyers or sent to the Mombasa Tea Auction Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Developing the seedlings in a nursery produces higher yields, reduces the length of the growing season and uses the land more efficiently Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa A student planting an avocado seedling at Baitigitu Primary School, one of several around Meru participating in Yorkshire Tea’s tree-planting project Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Once planted, each student is responsible for taking care of the tree Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Ukuu cluster gathers for its monthly meeting, during which farmers can discuss the latest cultivation advice and receive payment for their trees Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Dorothy Naitore addresses farmers at Ukuu cluster. Through the Tist programme, she has been able to buy land under her own name. Despite the fact women in Africa contribute 70 per cent of food production, they often lack rights to land Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Members of the Tegemeo group celebrate receiving their first prepayment for the carbon sequestered in their trees. They have planted 3,148 trees, the highest number out of all the groups in Ukuu cluster Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Julia Nkatha owns the largest farm in the Tegemeo group, and has planted 2,109 trees eligible for carbon quantification. ‘We started this group because we realised we were watering out trees wrong,’ she tells the cluster meeting Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Tea pickers return from the fields with baskets of leaves Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Julis Gituma Kiugu, 60, grows hybrid trees that grow faster and use less water. The challenge, he says, is adapting the species to keep pace with climate change Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Kiugu grows lots of bananas on his farm because they can survive a long time without rain Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Alphaxard Mwangi Kimani is a farmer, quantifier and seminar facilitator with Tist. He has planted an arboretum on his five acres, and has 76 species of indigenous trees, and nine fruit species. ‘We’ve been able to see the tree cover of this country grow,’ he says. ‘Everybody feels proud’ Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Mary Gitionga, a farmer and quantifier with Ukuu cluster. Gitionga is responsible for auditing small groups’ tree groves so the amount of carbon sequestered can be calculated Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa The late rains mean the ground is too hard to plant anything, so some of the tea factories around Imenti have established seedling nurseries to help their farmers Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa On his farm, Joshua Gichuge Miugania has planted around 800 trees in 12 years, and has 200 more in a seedling nursery Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Miugania has also installed around 280 beehives in some of the trees he has planted on the steep slopes of his farm Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Miugania also keeps goats, for milk, and chickens, for eggs, on his farm Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa Agnes Kingia, 75, has lived in this area since 1967 and was one of the first Tist members in 2009. Her nine children are now all grown-up, but she still does most of the work on the farm. In her house, she has built a fuel-efficient stove for cooking Jonathan Gregson Kenyan tea farmers are planting trees to save the great British cuppa With long, sunny days, fertile soil and stable rainfall, Kenya used to provide the ideal conditions for growing tea. But climate change is putting the future of the crop at great risk Jonathan Gregson

Richard Flint, chief executive of Yorkshire Water, which is helping to co-ordinate the project, said: “As an industry, the water sector is committed to fighting climate change through becoming carbon-neutral by 2030.

“Our ambitious pledge announced today will go a long way to meeting that target, and will also deliver greater biodiversity, improved water quality and better flood protection.“

Government-appointed tree champion Sir William Worsley welcomed the pledge: "Trees are carbon sinks, provide crucial habitats for precious wildlife, mitigate flood risk and provide a valuable renewable resource in timber - and I encourage other industries to follow Water UK’s excellent example to ensure we boost planting rates across the country.“

John Tucker, director of woodland creation at The Woodland Trust, said: “Trees and woods in the right place can deliver a multitude of benefits and we urgently need a massive expansion in our tree cover if we are to adapt to future climate change.“