Shropshire college leads mass tree planting scheme
A Shropshire college is leading a significant tree planting initiative.
The massive tree planting effort is being carried out by students and staff at Acton Burnell-based Concord College where the aim is to grow young trees for the future.
It aims to not only improve the environment in this country but help to save and preserve the Amazon Rainforest as well.
Over 400 saplings have been potted up and will be cared for in a poly tunnel until they are ready to be planted out.
The new trees, which are all species commonly found in the Shropshire countryside, will be used as replacements when needed.
The species include oak, cherry, hawthorn, sycamore, silver birch, copper beech, field maple, common lime, ever green oak and sweet chestnut.
Head groundsman Paul Humphreys said: “We have over 600 trees on site. We have some very old trees and one, a veteran oak, measures 7.4m around the trunk.”
Students and staff had the opportunity to pot up a sapling of their own for the college. Once potted up, they attached a tree tag with a unique number to their sapling.
The tag numbers have been recorded alongside the name of the student – or staff member – who planted it, as well as the variety of tree.
Over time the record will be updated when the tree is planted out.
Concord College is hoping that in years to come people will be able to find out what happened to their tree and hopefully when returning to Concord as alumni will visit it.
Emma Charles, co-lead of the Concord eco committee, said: “Our first-ever tree day was an uplifting, positive and incredibly popular event and I was delighted with the day.
“It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm and excitement amongst the students as they eagerly got their hands dirty potting their sapling into our homemade compost.
“Planting their own trees clearly held huge significance for them and was symbolic of the small difference each individual can make in the world and when combined has the potential for huge change.”
Students planting their Concord tree were asked to sponsor the planting of a tree in the Amazon.
The tree planting initiative raised funds for over 370 trees to be planted in Loreto and Ucayali, the regions of the Peruvian Rainforest where the charity Plant Your Future works.
Plant Your Future helps farmers in the Peruvian Amazon to transform deforested and degraded land into productive agroforestry systems.
Mrs Charles explained that agroforestry combined agriculture with forestry. Native fruit and timber trees were planted alongside short term crops meaning that the project could improve the ecological health of deforested areas whilst at the same time supporting the livelihoods of local farming communities.
A student and member of the Concord eco club, Penelope Sun, 17, said: “First of all it is a very meaningful activity as it is our contribution as a college to helping save and preserve the Amazon Rainforest.
“It’s a small step, but definitely an important one. I feel really proud and glad to be one of the volunteers in the activity.
“Even though the rain was pouring and it was bitterly cold during the planting, it was amazing to see so many people who turned up and planted their trees.
“This day is definitely one of my greatest memories at Concord and I hope we will have more activities like this in the future.”
