Thousands of acres of trees are to be planted in the North East in the coming years

New planting sites will be established in the North East to encourage the growth of thousands of acres of trees.

As part of a Government commitment to plant at least 30,000 hectares of new woodland each year, conservationists are hoping to build upon existing sites to capture carbon in the atmosphere.

The UK has one of the most manufactured landscapes in the world. Most of what people consider to be the countryside is in fact intensively farmed agricultural land.

The Woodland Trust's executive director, Rosie Walker, says trees can be a powerful ally in our bid to repair our planet.

Industry experts say it could take 20-30 years for planting sites to grow into woodlands that are truly effective at carbon capture.

It is a time-scale that pushes very close to the UK target of being net-zero 2050.

There are also concerns over whether there are adequate resources to plant trees on the scale the Government envisions.

However, Ms Chambers says plans to boost woodland will be difficult to achieve because of a lack of investment in the industry, "Most importantly, we have a skills crisis. There has not been investment in forestry, skills and training at every level for the last three decades and that is going to be the main stumbling block to the current ambitions."