A local charity is undertaking a massive tree-planting effort thanks to support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Devon Wildlife Trust is today (2 December 2021) launching the Saving Devon’s Treescapes project which will plant a quarter of a million native species trees over the next four years to combat recent losses to the devastating ash dieback disease.
The charity is receiving £758,600 of National Lottery funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the project which it will lead on behalf of the Devon Ash Dieback Resilience Forum. Saving Devon’s Treescapes will employ a total of four people whose job it will be to work with communities across the county but with special focus on five areas which include Torbay, South Devon, Coly Valley (East Devon), Exeter and Cranbrook.
The project has some ambitious plans to restore trees lost in recent years to disease. It will:
- Stage more than 100 ‘tree hub’ events where the general public will be able to come along and collect a free tree to plant in their own gardens
- Make more than 300 free advisory visits to advise landowners on where and which species of tree to plant
- Establish a community tree nursery at Broadclyst, East Devon and support work with other communities to set up their own small tree nurseries elsewhere
- Work with 80 schools and establish a network 170 ‘school treescapes champions’ who will promote tree planting in their local communities
- Plant 19km of new hedgerows
- Monitor the success of its own tree planting by surveying key Devon species which have been affected by ash dieback. Species to be monitored will include the brown hairstreak butterfly, lichens and cirl buntings
- Celebrate the trees and natural heritage of Devon through a series of cultural events
Rosie Cotgreave is leading Saving Devon’s Treescapes for Devon Wildlife Trust. Rosie said:
“We are very excited to be launching Saving Devon’s Treescapes’ ambitious work to restore trees to landscapes across the county. Our thanks go to the crucial support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Ash Dieback is going to affect us all, but this project is here to provide hope and action so we can ensure Devon’s treescapes are healthy and resilient in the future. Over the next four years we’ll be working with communities, landowners and businesses across Devon to achieve this.”
Stuart McLeod, Director, England London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:
“Trees are a critical part of our wonderful natural heritage so we are delighted to support this project. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, people across Devon will take part in planting thousands of new trees and helping to create a brighter future for the county’s natural heritage.”
The launch of the Saving Devon’s Treescapes project follows a successful 12-month pilot initiative run by Devon Wildlife Trust. Its achievements included the planting of 10,000 native species trees, founding new community orchards and establishing a tree nursery at the charity’s Meeth Quarry nature reserve (near Hatherleigh).
Ben Hunt is a trustee of Exeter-based community group Park Life Heavitree. The group worked with Devon Wildlife Trust on the pilot project:
“Park Life Heavitree has been delighted to be part of the Saving Devon Treescapes project. There was huge community support and we had no problems giving away the 200 trees at our event held in Heavitree Pleasure Ground in early April. It was great to hear and see so many people talking about their plans for the trees they took away and we're already planning for our 2022 tree hub event and how we might use some of the trees in the grounds of the new Park Life Cafe and Community space just opened in the park.”
Saving Devon Treescapes is holding dozens of events across Devon throughout this winter. These begin with tree-hub events, where people will be able to collect a free tree, at Starcross (11am to 3pm on Thursday 2nd December at Starcross Pavilion Car Park), at Slapton (10am to 2pm on Saturday 27th November at the Slapton Campaign and Caravanning site) and at Cullompton (10am to 1pm on Saturday 4th December at Cullompton Town Hall). Full details are available here.