Spring Hedge & Copse packs distributed
Young people in schools and youth groups across the UK are showing politicians the way forward by planting 210,000 native trees this spring through the Woodland Trust’s “Hedge and Copse” scheme.
With green issues high on the political agenda following the Copenhagen summit and with elections approaching, hundreds of thousands of school children will be doing their bit for native UK trees and woods – planting enough trees to cover almost half an acre for every UK constituency.
The scheme is part of the Trust’s Tree for All project, which is the biggest children’s tree planting initiative in the UK. The Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, supplied over 7,000 free hedge and copse packs this spring which each contain 30 saplings.
Since the launch of the hedge and copse scheme in 2004 children in the UK have reinstated the equivalent of 230 miles of hedgerows, enough to enclose the entire M25 ring in hedgerow. Including this spring’s saplings, 1.8 million trees will have been planted directly from hedge and copse packs.
Christina Joachim, campaign development officer, said: “Not only are hedge and copse packs helping young children learn how they have an important role to play in looking after the environment but it helps ensure our native woodland will flourish in years to come. The packs are also supported by free online planting advice and curriculum linked resources.”
The free packs contain either thirty native hedge trees including; hawthorn, hazel, holly, dogrose and dogwood, or thirty native copse trees including; birch, rowan and wild cherry.
The Tree for All campaign has a target to plant one tree for every child under 16 in the UK, which equates to some 12 million trees. So far 7.5 million trees have been planted across the UK involving more than 2.1 million people, with the area planted equivalent to almost 13,000 football pitches.
10,000 schools and youth groups can receive free ‘harvest hedgerow’ tree packs this autumn through Sainsbury’s Active Kids scheme.Notes to editors
For media enquiries contact:
The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, email: media@woodlandtrust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters.
The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.