Saving Devon’s Treescapes project – What we have achieved so far

What we have achieved so far

Monitoring, planting and nurturing trees for the future

Saving Devon’s Treescapes started in March 2020 and over five years we aim to plant and nurture 250,000 trees outside of woodlands across Devon. Not only that but we want increase knowledge about the importance of our treescapes and ensure the cultural importance of ash trees is celebrated and not forgotten.

Saving Devon's Treescapes Tree planting map

Here are just some of the achievements from the last few years:

Planted over 150,000 trees outside of woodlands

Held 80 free tree community hubs, distributing trees locally

Recorded over 27km of hedgerow for brown hairstreak butterflies (and found over 450 eggs!)

Set up 35 micro-nurseries within schools so they can grow their own local trees

Completed over 200 free advisory visits to landowners

Created over 40 new community orchards

Created an online exhibition, documenting ash dieback and the replanting efforts

See what the project achieved in its first year

We also established two community tree nurseries - one at DWT's Meeth Quarry Nature Reserve and one at Heathfield Farm in Broadclyst. The nurseries will grow 7500 cell grown trees and 7500 bare root trees every year for communities to plant locally for free. All trees will be grown from locally sourced seeds including some local species such as the Devon Whitebeam.

A volunteer working at the tree nursery, smiling at the camera while planting saplings

Our nurseries rely on the amazing commitment of volunteers. If you live locally to Meeth or Broadclyst and would like to volunteer, please contact Sarah to discuss further at saugbaya@devonwildlifetrust.org.