A pledge to plant 1,000 native trees at Harmony Woods has been launched.
Local charity Andover Trees United is a volunteer-led group which works in partnership with schools to promote conservation is asking the wider Andover community with assistance in planting 1,000 trees.
The environmental charity’s ‘Tree Planting Fortnight’ usually takes place annually during the last two weeks of November. It is just one part of the community woodland initiative which aims to connect school children and the wider community with the natural world while improving the environment and creating a vital habitat for wildlife.
Project leader, Wendy Davis explains, “This year the children may not all be able to come and this leaves us with a serious dilemma. Our trees are currently being kept alive in a nursery bed but will not survive the winter unless they are planted out properly. We desperately need volunteers to come and plant the trees that the children cannot.”
“We are a Covid-secure site and have procedures in place to make it safe and easy for volunteers to maintain social distancing at all times. We are also extending our tree planting programme over the winter to create more opportunities for individuals and bubbles to get involved.”
The pledge comes a day after the charity announced that they regularly suffer damage to their woodland.
Long-term volunteer, Terri Forbes added, “I had never planted a tree when I first got involved a few years ago and now I am a regular volunteer over planting fortnight and community tree planting days. Getting trees into the ground gives me an enormous sense of achievement and wellbeing which helps me a lot with everything that is going on.”
The charity are asking members of the public to email volunteers@andovertrees.org.uk for further information and to get involved.
