A MAJOR effort is being launched to encourage the people of Yorkshire to help combat climate change.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust yesterday unveiled a donation scheme to help people become "carbon neutral".

The fund has been created because of growing concerns about how carbon dioxide emissions add to global warning.

Trust spokesman Michael Krause said: "Trees reabsorb CO2, so the effect of these emissions can be offset by planting trees - or giving money to an organisation which will do this.

"Planting enough trees allows individuals and businesses to become carbon neutral.

"All donations to our Carbon and Climate Fund will be used to plant trees in Yorkshire, benefiting wildlife near our homes and helping combat global warming."

The trust is working with a Carbon and Climate site in Chafer Wood, on the edge of the North York Moors It is a deciduous woodland which includes ash, wild cherry and blackthorn as well as wild flowers such as cowslip, common rock-rose and pyramidal orchid.

The environmental campaigners believe the average family should give £20 a year to cover carbon emissions from their heating and car usage.

Air travel is also major contributor, and the environmentalists suggest £5 a passenger for a return flight to Europe, £10 for the USA and £30 for Australia.

Donations to the Carbon and Climate Fund can be made by sending a cheque, payable to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Carbon and Climate Fund, 10 Toft Green, York YO1 6JT, or by credit card by calling (01904) 659570 during office hours.