26 July 2006
'Every child should have the chance to plant trees', says TV journalist Sian Lloyd
…as she challenges Welsh Local Authorities and private landowners to work with the Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw) to help make this happen
TV journalist Siân Lloyd appeared at the launch of the Woodland Trust’s Porthkerry Report on Wednesday 26th July, and challenged Local Authorities and private landowners in Wales to work with the Woodland Trust to help give more children the chance to plant trees. The Porthkerry report explains how the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, is working with the Vale of Glamorgan Council to plant 16,400 trees with 2,500 children to create 37 acres (15 hectares) of new native woodland at Porthkerry Country Park near Barry, which is owned by the Council.
Siân Lloyd said: “Every child should have the chance to plant trees, and I’d like to challenge Local Authorities and private landowners to team up with the Woodland Trust, in the way that the Vale of Glamorgan Council has done at Porthkerry Country Park, to help make sure that more children get that opportunity.”
The Porthkerry report details how the Woodland Trust is working with local schools to give children the chance to plant trees at Porthkerry over nine planting weeks, providing an inspirational programme that includes a structured c.1½ hour event which includes two woodland activities and a tree planting session.
It shows how the project has been generously funded by ENFYS, the Forestry Commission Wales, RWE N-Power, Dow Corning Ltd and public donations. It explains how the Vale of Glamorgan Council has supported the project in terms of staff time, but that no direct financial contribution was required, thus making this an attractive model for other Local Authorities and even private landowners.
The other key speaker at the launch meeting was Jerry Langford, Operations Director Wales for the Woodland Trust.
The Porthkerry project is part of Tree For All, the Woodland Trust’s ambitious children’s tree planting campaign, which aims to plant a tree for every child in the UK over a five year period, 12 million in total, and to involve one million children in doing this. The aim is to help a new generation of youngsters reconnect with the natural world and have fun improving their local environment. More details of Tree For All in Wales are available at www.coed-cadw.org.uk
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For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
or The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail media@woodland-trust.org.uk
Notes to editors
1. To download a the Porthkerry Report in pdf form, please click on the icon below (pdf 2,550 KB)
Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. Further news can be accessed via www.coed-cadw.org.uk The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.
