Financial firm Legal & General is planting 140,000 trees in 155 hectares of countryside near Gatwick Airport to help tackle climate change and offset the equivalent energy use of around 4,000 households.

The Pudding Wood project in Sussex is set to deliver 25,000 tonnes of carbon sequestration over its lifetime and “is part of the work we are doing to explore the commercial opportunities for private finance in climate and nature solutions”.

As of this month planting has started and concentrated in the northern part of the site. Trees are being placed in tubes made of recycled plastic to protect them from deer and rodent attack. These tubes will be removed after five years. Work on fencing to keep deer away from the has also started with fences removed once the trees have sufficiently matured.

Work is being undertaken by the firm’s forestry contractor Ground Control.

The move is also part of its climate commitments to decarbonise its business as far as possible.

It added: “We are working closely with arboriculture experts, ecologists, natural capital specialists, and the Forestry Commission, to make sure the benefits are robust, measurable and credible.

“We have involved third-sector organisations who have experience in delivering UK nature legacies, and share our ethos, to ensure the initial design surveys and ongoing stewardship and management of the site over the long term delivers our ambition.

“Some of our people and the local community will be closely involved in the site’s transformation – rolling up their sleeves to support planting and reconnect with nature through our volunteering opportunities.”

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