Thousands of trees and hedges planted by charity

Sunday 12 May 2024

An important contribution to the native tree and hedging stock on the island has been made in a planting season which also saw one of the worst storms to hit Guernsey.

Trees for Life supplied or planted 22 sites with just short of 2,000 tree and hedge plants in 2023/24.

They included native and naturalised species such as aspen, English oak, hazel, beech, hornbeam, birch, lime, field maple, lime, and alder.

The charity has worked with several groups of volunteers to undertake many of the planting schemes, including corporates: HSBC, RBSI, Northern Trust, Moore Stephens & Northerners FC.

In partnership with Guernsey Gardens, the Native Hedge Supply Scheme has supplied 40 people with 4,642 hedge plants, which is the equivalent to 1.3 km of hedging.

Maintenance has also been undertaken on the English oak at the woodland memorial to the men of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry, sponsored by the late Sir David Barclay at Belvedere Field.

Colin Dodd, GTFL Committee says: "The Charity's good work and importance to the community and the island environment was really highlighted in 2023 with Storm Ciaran on 1st November.

"We were lucky compared to our sister island Jersey, but still we suffered significant tree damage.

"Our continuous tree planting work each season, year in year out to replenish stocks on island, means that storm damage can quickly be restored within a few years.

"Our tree planting schemes focus on planting a minimum of 500 native tree & hedge plants annually and thanks to funding from our principal sponsor, Channel Island Fuels Limited, we've been able to increase this rate of planting to over 3,000 tree and hedge plants this season.

"Considering our size, this is a really positive contribution, adding significantly to the repopulation of native species and enhancement of the biodiversity of selected areas in Guernsey.

"GTFL benefits greatly from the support of regular volunteers who come out in force to help with the heavy work of tree planting and we would like to thank those individuals for their continued support, some of whom come from corporates as part of their corporate and social responsibility contribution.

"We are grateful to His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor Richard Cripwell for his ongoing patronage and his support for this year's GTFL Tree Fair event which he will be hosting in the Autumn at Government House."

Anyone who is interested in assisting with future planting, new scheme suggestions or donations, is encouraged to contact GTFL either by email to gsytreesforlife@gmail.com or call 07781165298 for more information.