29 November 2006
Tall oaks from little acorns grow - in Wentwood
Kids take a leaf out of mother nature’s book in helping to restore Wentwood Forest
Over 250 children from seven (1) local primary schools have been getting some hands-on involvement in the work of the Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw) restoring Wentwood Forest this week. They are visiting the site and planting acorns that, with luck, will grow into huge oaks that will eventually take the place of the conifers that currently dominate the Forest.
The visits are all part of Tree For All (2), 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.
The newly planted oaks will take advantage of small gaps in the conifer canopy created by students from Usk College, who earlier this year got to use their newly acquired chainsaw skills at the site. The students carried out what is known as “halo thinning”; that is, removing conifers that had been casting a dense shadow on the few remaining broadleaved trees, and areas of ancient woodland flora that remain on the forest floor.
Mr Gareth Atwell, head teacher of Magor Primary School, says: “We’re very keen to be involved in the environment and sustainable development and we see our links with the Woodland Trust as being pivotal to this. The children are really looking forward to their visit to Wentwood, to learning more about the Forest but also playing their part in helping to restore it to its former glory.”
The Woodland Trust completed its acquisition of 352 hectares (870 acres) of Wentwood in January this year following a successful campaign to Save Wentwood Forest launched in June last year. The Woodland Trust has paid tribute to local people for their overwhelming support for the campaign. The local public appeal alone raised over £100,000, while at least 30,000 individual donations were received from across the UK and the world.
The Trust had to raise at least £1.5 million to secure the purchase of the site and start its restoration. This support includes contributions and grants from The Tubney Charitable Trust, GrantScape, the Countryside Council for Wales, the Hickinbotham Charitable Trust, the Oak Foundation, and a number of other charitable trusts.
Although Wentwood is Wales’ largest ancient woodland (3), most of it was planted with conifers during the last century, hugely threatening its rare ancient woodland wildlife. The Woodland Trust now aims to restore Wentwood, and although this is a huge task, this children’s event shows that the Trust is determined to involve the local community in the project.
Like almost all Woodland Trust woods, Wentwood Forest is open for the public to visit at any time, for free. The Woodland Trust has set up a special website for the site at: www.wentwoodforest.org.uk This includes a whole range of information about the site and the campaign to save it, including the Trust’s plans to restore the site, its history, how to get their, and a map.
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For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 01766 832563 or 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
Jon Winder, who manages the site for the Woodland Trust, on 01600 719281
Or The Woodland Trust Press Office email media@woodland-trust.org.uk or Tel 01476 581121
Notes for editors
1. The schools taking part in the week of acorn-planting events are: Magor Primary School, Newport; Fairwater Junior School, Torfaen; St Peter’s Primary School, Torfaen; Monnow Junior School, Newport; Garnteg Primary School, Torfaen; Trellech Primary School, Monmouthshire and Clytha Primary School, Newport. The visits are being organised by the Woodland Trust working with Cambium Sustainable Landscapes, who specialise in organising education events like this.
2. More information on Tree For All is available at www.treeforall.org.uk
3. Ancient woodland is defined as land that has been wooded for at least 400 years. It is the richest wildlife habitat in the UK and equivalent to the rainforest. Wentwood Forest is home to protected species like the dormouse, and thousands of other wildlife species including 23 species of native butterfly and 75 species of birds. The forest is the remnant of a vast woodland that once stretched from the river Usk in South Wales to the Wye Valley.
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.
