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Plan to Plant
Jul 20, 2010
Positive News Issue |
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Simple ideas can often be the most successful and the Woodland Trust have just come up with a gem. Tree Planting Packs is a funded initiative to help schools, youth clubs and community groups get planting.
All you have to do is contact them for a pack and they will send out a planting kit. They supply native trees that will not only make your neighbourhood more appealing and a place to enjoy, it is also designed to help to attract wildlife. The Trust aims to supply everything needed to make the planting packs as fruitful as possible including access to a comprehensive online advice centre that aims to ensure that groups can get their trees to grow to maturity. This service is designed to guide people through a tree planting project from start to finish, whatever the group or scale of the project.
To date the Woodland Trust has planted more than 11 million native trees since it began in the 1970s. They are very keen to ensure that the next generation continue their work and are particularly interested in schools taking up the offer of free trees. Along with this they would like to see the initiative expand into other community spaces. The Trust said "Native trees planted in school playgrounds provide shade and shelter for children as well as offering a wonderful opportunity to engage pupils in fun, hands-on learning which links their environment to the curriculum. Beyond the school gates, in towns, villages and neighbourhoods, native trees add colour, landscape interest, absorb noise pollution, improve air quality and help alleviate local flooding."
The initiative is part of a wider campaign called More Tree More Good. At its launch in late June this year, Clive Anderson, the Trust's President, outlined its aims and painted an ambitious picture of what the charity hopes to achieve over the next 50 years.
Clive said: “Research gathered over recent years has highlighted the countless essential benefits to people, wildlife and the environment that come from planting trees and creating new woodland habitats. To maximise these the UK needs to plant 20 million native trees per year – but at the moment we’re planting just six million.
"The simple act of planting trees unleashes a host of benefits: in just 12 years they become beautiful woodland, home to a vast array of wildlife and places where children can play, adults reflect, birds and plant life flourish and communities come together. They lock up carbon, are a natural defence against flooding, provide shelter from the elements and offer a sustainable supply of eco-friendly fuel."
A public opinion survey commissioned by the Trust and completed this month shows that 72% agree the UK needs more trees.
The benefits of woodland creation already feature in the UK's Low Carbon Transition Plan, which was published last summer, and the 2009 ‘Read Report’ on the role of UK forests in combating climate change. Most recently, under Defra's Climate Change Plan, a designated Woodland Carbon Task Force will encourage large scale private sector investment in woodland planting.
At the election the Conservative manifesto called for a national tree-planting campaign – reiterated in the coalition agreement - and also highlighted the need to create green spaces and ’plant many more trees’.
The Liberal Democrats went even further and echoed the Trust’s call for a doubling of woodland cover. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly have both made far-reaching commitments to increase woodland cover. The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe, with just half the European average for tree cover.
Clive continues: "We realise 20 million trees is a huge task but an increase in tree-planting rates is essential, and we can’t do it alone. That’s why the Trust is calling on all individuals and organisations to to their bit."
‘More Trees More Good’ offers a range of support to enable individuals and organisations to plant their own trees:
For larger tree planting schemes, there is a team of expert advisers who will make site visits to offer guidance on planting trees and accessing government funding.
For smaller schemes, the Trust works in partnership with landowners by supplying expertise and sharing some of the costs through the MoreWoods programme.
For schools and community groups, the campaign provides free or reduced-price tree packs.
Members of the public and companies can also help with the costs of the campaign. £6.7m is needed over the next 18 months.
A donation of as little as £10 enables us to plant four trees, £50 provides a free tree pack to a school and £150 pays for a tree pack for a whole community to start their own wood.
Find out more at:
www.woodlandtrust.org.uk and at
www.moretreesmoregood.org.uk
Images courtesy of The Woodland Trust
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