FARMERS and landowners are calling for improved financial support to speed up work on The Great North Forest.
The project, the first to be launched in England, is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and 1,750 acres of woodland has been planted.
The forest stretches from Sunderland to Durham, and across to the North-East coast, with the aim of expanding it even further.
Antony Haslam, regional director of the Country Landowners' Association in Northumberland and County Durham, believes extra cash would hasten the project's goal.
He said: "The aim of the Great North Forest is to have 20,000 acres under woodland in the next 40 years.
"That is a long time and the process could be speeded up with improved woodland grants.
"There is a feeling that the North-East with its three rivers, the Tyne, Wear and Tees, and its major industries of coal, steel and shipbuilding, needs to become a greener place if it is to lose its old industrial image.
"The Great North Forest is an ambitious scheme, which will take generations to complete. It deserves better support to encourage greater participation."
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