Environment Secretary Michael Gove has appointed a "tree champion" to boost planting rates and prevent unnecessary felling of street trees.
The move, part of the pledges in the Government's 25-year environment plan, comes amid a controversial tree-felling programme in Sheffield which has seen police deployed and protesters arrested, while campaigners have warned that tree-planting in England is at its lowest rate for a generation.
Sir William Worsley, who is chairman of the National Forest Company which oversees the National Forest, has been appointed to support Government promises to plant 11 million trees, plus a further one million in towns and cities.