Hertfordshire woodland receives royal visitor
HRH Princess Beatrice paid a visit to the Woodland Trust's Heartwood Forest site, near St Albans, getting stuck in with young tree planters.
The Princess joined pupils of Highfield Primary School, Enfield, at the Woodland Trust site near St Albans in Hertfordshire on Monday March 22nd. “The children and I are very excited and looking forward to naming our trees,” she laughed.
“It’s fantastic to be able to plant a hazel tree – when do you get the chance to plant a tree on a Monday morning? It’s perfect,” quips Princess Beatrice, donning boots and a thick coat to plant trees at England’s largest new native woodland, Heartwood Forest.
Beatrice heard about Heartwood Forest from Woodland Trust Director of Operations for England, John Tucker, who inspired her interest in trees at a Woodland Trust event in late 2009.
Princess Beatrice took a short walk through Langley Wood, one of Heartwood’s three blocks of ancient woodland, to the planting site and learned about the Trust’s plans to plant 650,000 trees to create the largest new native wood in England.
“I’d love to return to Heartwood,” Beatrice continued. “The trees are going to be here for hundreds of years and to be able to track the progress of something you’ve planted is very exciting. I know the Woodland Trust has lots more to do as the UK needs more trees, so I’d definitely recommend getting involved. Planting trees is a simple but vitally important way to help the environment.”
The Trust is now nearing its first year target of 90,000 trees planted on the site – all by volunteers.
For information about Heartwood and upcoming events visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/heartwood
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.