Planting For The Future

Date: 16th Mar 2021 @ 9:34am

As I’m sure you have heard on the news, there has been extensive discussion about the environmental impact the HS2 development will have, including requiring the clearance of established and crucially important woodland habitats along its path. To mitigate the impact of this habitat removal, the HS2 project commissioned a nursery in Wales to grow several thousand oak trees that were supposed to be planted as new woodlands. However, despite growing the trees and them now being ready to go to their new homes, no plans to plant them were ever made, making it a double disaster that woodland has been cleared, but the new trees have never been planted.

After hearing about this through word of mouth, a few amazing guys in Liverpool raised some money to buy 3000 of these little oak trees from the nursery, who had to cover their basic costs, and those guys spread the word to find homes for all of these trees. The Lancashire Wildlife Trust heard about it and asked across their Nature Friendly Schools network. Westminster Primary is our Local Nature Friendly school and they spread the word to other Blackpool primary schools. It is these baby trees that our school received and altogether 33 schools across Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside offered homes for around 800 of these rescued trees.

They are all oak trees. Oak trees can live for several hundred years. So when we plant our little trees we are planting a legacy that will live far into the future, and provide a truly valuable habitat for insects and birds. By giving homes to these little trees we are doing a wonderful thing for nature.

The Eco Warriors helped plant them around the school grounds.