Alan Titchmarsh backs ‘free’ tree packs for children
Young people from across the UK will be taking part in national tree planting initiatives thanks to the Woodland Trust the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity.
The record breaking response by schools to sign up for free packs as part of the Trust’s groundbreaking ‘Tree For All’ campaign has been given the thumbs up by TV gardener and presenter Alan Titchmarsh.
Alan Titchmarsh says: “The Woodland Trust’s free hedge and copse scheme is a brilliantly positive way to get children involved and excited about our environment. We’re very lucky to have such a rich and unique countryside in Britain, and tree-planting is an excellent hands-on way to teach children the importance of nature and inspire them to care for it from an early age. The Woodland Trust’s hedge and copse scheme is fantastic because it enables children to get outdoors have fun and get their hands dirty, greening up their own school grounds and community spaces, helping wildlife to flourish there.”
The Woodland Trust’s free ‘hedge and copse’ packs will enable thousands of schools, scouts and youth groups across the UK to take part in tree planting activities over the next month, helping them to create havens for wildlife and woodland areas for future generations to enjoy in their school grounds or local communities, safeguarding our native trees, hedgerows and create lasting woodland legacies.
Modern lifestyles are meaning many children are growing up with little connection with their natural environment. ‘Tree For All’ is the UK’s largest ever children’s tree planting campaign which aims to involve one million children in planting 12 million trees. It is about encouraging young people to have contact with nature, increasing their understanding and enjoyment of woodland and inspire them becoming the future guardians of our natural world.
Andy Beer, head of campaigns at the Woodland Trust comments: “Since the 1930s, fifty per cent of the UK’s ancient woods have been felled or damaged and 190,000km of hedgerow destroyed in the wake of agricultural development. Our hedge and copse initiative goes some small way to address the balance by planting new hedgerows and copses. Encouraging the next generation to help us plant trees is an effective way to get the message across that we need to conserve the hedgerows and woods we have left and to replace the ones we have destroyed.”
Since the launch of the Trust’s hedge and copse scheme in 2004, UKchildren have contributed to the reinstatement of 95 miles of hedgerows in the UK, that’s six times the height of Mount Everest. This season the packs will enable over 280,000 trees to be planted across the UK. The packs have reached as far as Fair Isle in the Shetlands, the remotest inhabited place in Britain, to Hull one of the least wooded cities in the UK. To find out how your school or youth group can get involved visit http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/hedge/
Andy Beer continues: “The planting of a hedge or copse will attract wildlife and give schools ‘living classrooms’ which pupils can enjoy for years to come. Each hedge and copse pack has instructions on how to plant the saplings and worksheets about the various species. Planting and using a hedge or copse can contribute to Key Stage 2 in science, numeracy, literacy and art and design.”
So far the Woodland Trust’s ‘Tree for All’ campaign has planted over 4 million trees across the UK involving more than 685,000 people, that’s enough people to fill the Albert Hall over 120 times. Approximately 15,000 schools, 624 community groups and 100 major partners have been involved with over 2,020 hectares (5000 acres) of new woodland created so far.
The free packs contain either thirty native hedge trees including; hawthorn, hazel, holly, dogrose, buckthorn and dogwood or thirty native copse trees, including; birch, rowan, wild cherry, field maple and hornbeam.
There is still a way to go to reach the target of 12 million trees – one tree for every child under 16 - so it’s by no means too late to get involved in helping to create new woodland. To find out how you can get involved in spring or for further information visit the Tree for All website
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Notes to Editor
For more information contact the Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121 or email: media@woodland-trust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. The Woodland Trust protects and creates woodland. Established in 1972, it has 300,000 members and supporters and owns more than 1,100 woods which are open for the public to enjoy.
Access to its sites are free. Further news can be found at www.woodland-trust.org.uk
