A scheme by one of Britain's most
successful entrepreneurs to reforest the heart of England planted its millionth
tree.
Full story here...
Poet and publisher Felix Dennis said
he was proud to have planted the first 10% of his ambitious vision. "I'm
hoping that long after I'm dead that the charity I founded will one day be the
proud possessor of 25,000 acres of woodland planted with 10 million native
broadleafed trees, completely open to the public," he said.
Dennis, founder of the eponymous
publishing company who was diagnosed with throat cancer last year, planted an
oak sapling at a ceremony attended by hundreds of local residents, council
members, forestry officials and employees on Friday, and read aloud from one of
his poems which contains the line: "Whosoever plants a tree/ Winks at
immortality."
The project, founded in 2011, is a
partnership between Dennis and the Heart of England Forest charity, which aims
to plant and preserve a large native broadleaf forest in South Warwickshire,
stretching from the ancient borders of the Forest of Arden – also known as
Shakespeare's Forest – south to the Vale of Evesham.
To date, 2,500 acres of land has been
purchased and planted with 1 million native broadleaf saplings – about the size
of seven Hyde Parks in London – at a rate of approximately 300 acres a year,
making it the world's largest privately planted forest.
Major species include the English oak
and ash, along with the sessile oak, birch, small leaved lime, field maple,
cherry, hornbeam, aspen, sweet chestnut, rowan, whitebeam and willow. We're so
far down the league table you can't even see us."
Dennis, who began planting in the
1990s with a small wood near Dorsington, Warwickshire, announced last September
that he would leave 80% of his £500m fortune to the charity after his death.
He intends the money to be used to
expand the forest to 25,000 acres, planted with 10 million trees and made
public, "to create a connected series of woods so extensive that it will
form one of the largest forests in England".
He wants the forest to host a range
of activities, such as traditional woodland crafts, coppice and charcoal
production, a green burial and memorial site, camping, recreation and
equestrian pursuits, birdwatching, tree-top walkways and a visitor's hub with
an education and arts centre. These are being felled in stages and converted to
a native broadleafed woodland with bluebells.
The forest is already providing a
habitat for rare species, with 34 captive-bred hazel dormice released into
Heart of England Forest woodland as part of a reintroduction project last June.
"I really do love watching the
land change with the amount of wildlife that arrives," said Dennis.
Planting trees is the
easiest way to combat climate change: Trees breathe in Carbon Di Oxide,
the main cause for global warming and climate change, and through the process
of photo-synthesis create food for themselves and breathe out Oxygen.
The simplest way to combat hunger and poverty is to plant
trees:
Trees also fight climate change, they breathe in Carbon di-oxide and
through the process of photo-synthesis create food for themselves and breathe
out Oxygen.
Plant or gift a tree today:
As simple as it sounds, planting a tree makes a difference.
A tree has the potential to sequester about a ton of carbon over 50 years.
What's more, It generates enough oxygen for two human beings for their lifetimes.
You are cleansing your air and making up for the carbon that you unintentionally emit.
So what are you waiting for?
Plant a tree today.
Plant a tree today.
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