'Trees for the Hosts' is a project that London Wildlife Trust are delivering to alleviate a deficiency of trees in certain areas of the five Host Boroughs. With funding from the Forestry Commission’s 'Trees and Woodland Grants' scheme, London Wildlife Trust will work with local schools and community groups to identify appropriate locations where up to two hundred whips (tree saplings) can be planted. In time the trees will attract wildlife, help alleviate the affects of climate change, and positively enhance the local environments of the host boroughs.
Joining us were a number of local volunteers, braving the weather along with Councillor Abdal Ullah, Lead Member for Environment at Tower Hamlets Council.
As the event progressed a rather bland section of Weaver Fields was transformed from 'dog fouled fescue' (grass to you and me), to an oasis of hazel, silver birch, field hawthorns and wild cherry saplings. Over the course of the three hour event the volunteers - including 60 school children, once the wind and rain had eased - planted and staked two hundred whips. In the coming years the saplings will be nurtured and managed into a mini wood for the benefit of the local community and London’s wildlife.
In the next four years London Wildlife Trust will look to run numerous events across the Host Boroughs with schools and community groups taking the lead in identifying appropriate sites and applying to be part of the project. To ensure the tree saplings have every chance of survival, London Wildlife will run a tree care course with each community group or school to ensure this environmental project has its own legacy well beyond 2012.
The photo below, courtesy of London Borough of Tower Hamlets, shows some of the volunteers who braved the weather as the planting gets underway.
For more information about the project here.
