Welcombe Hills School MoveForward Project - Week 10

Our penultimate session with the Welcombe Hills school group and ThinkForward was at our five-acre nature reserve to plant trees. We began with a briefing, some learning about the environmental and biodiversity benefits of planting trees and a tree planting demonstration before the group got going to give the trees their new forever home.

We firstly started by planting fruit trees in our orchard area before heading into the future forest area to plant an array of trees to continue its formation. After enjoying hot chocolates to warm ourselves up, we finished by planting trees to create a Hawthorne hedgerow along the back of the Field of Life.

The future impact of the group’s tree planting will be amazing for the environment with the trees absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, to help to combat climate change. As the trees grow and the forest takes shape it will be great for people’s wellbeing as trees can enhance our mood, help reduce stress and improve our mental wellbeing.

The hedgerow will have a fantastic impact on biodiversity as Hawthorn is recognised as one of the very best hedges for wildlife as it can support over 150 different species of insects.

All the trees planted will also help to improve soil and prevent flooding and erosion.