Festival to celebrate trees in nature and art

A festival which celebrates trees is being held in Hull city centre.

Treefest aims to "inspire communities to value, protect and care for" trees, according to organisers Hull and East Riding Friends of the Earth (HFOE).

Held at the Pier Street Pop-Up Space on Humber Street on Saturday, it will feature stalls, games, art and story and poetry performances as well as a chance to talk to experts from organisations like Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust and the RSPB.

Lauren Saunders from HFOE said trees were vital for the environment and Hull and East Yorkshire had fewer trees compared with the rest of the UK.

"The East Riding has 4% tree canopy coverage and Hull has just 2%." she said.

"The average UK town or city has a tree canopy cover of roughly 19%."

She added: "They help with cooling of cities and they can help with flood mitigation.

"They can improve air quality and public health outcomes and they support biodiversity and wildlife habitats."

Other activities at the event include East Riding Archives and Local Studies exploring the stories of trees from the past and a chance to get involved with an online project called Digital Forest.

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