1 Million Trees Planted 8 March 2012
Woodland Trust hits 1 million trees in February and sets sights on the big 6 million
Her Majesty The Queen, HRH The Princess Royal, Dermot O’Leary, Dame Mary Peters and Kate Humble are just some of the people that have helped the Woodland Trust to get a year of Jubilee tree–planting celebrations off to a flying start. With the help of thousands of adults and children throughout the UK, one million trees were planted this February.
But one million trees is just the start, the Trust aims to plant six million trees this year, including hundreds of new woods, to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Northern Ireland made a princely contribution towards the February million. Schools and community groups throughout the Province planted 210 free tree packs, totalling over 19,000 trees, last month. And over 1,000 members of the public – schoolchildren, local people and visitors – rolled up their sleeves to plant the first of 60,000 native trees on land owned by Carrickfergus Borough Council. The end result will be a sparkling new ‘Diamond Wood’ on the doorstep of Whitehead in County Antrim.
The trees planted as part of the Jubilee Woods project will be a lasting legacy for the future, and the Trust is calling on people across Northern Ireland to take this unique opportunity to get involved and make their mark in history.
Georgina McLeod, Director of Jubilee Woods, said: “Achieving the February million is great news and is a fantastic accomplishment to start the year. But we need people’s continued support to help reach our goals, whether it is by planting trees or donating money to help us plant trees.
“We can only make this exciting and ambitious project successful with everyone’s help. We want to give everybody the chance to plant trees and we’re appealing to our supporters; individuals, organisations and businesses, to help make this happen and we hope that millions of people across the UK will take the opportunity to get involved in 2012.”
There are many ways for individuals, schools, communities and organisations to get involved in the project, from planting trees in gardens to planting whole woodlands of an acre or more. Schools and community groups can apply for free packs of trees for planting this autumn. To find out how to get involved or to order your free tree pack visit www.JubileeWoods.org.uk
Sainsbury’s is the lead corporate sponsor for the Woodland Trust’s Jubilee Woods Project. Over the next 15 months, Sainsbury’s will be supporting the project and raising £1.5 million for tree planting by increasing the number of donations made from products in store. Later this year, Sainsbury’s will also give customers the opportunity to make a ‘pledge’ in store to plant a tree to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
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