500 trees planted in two days to ‘rewild’ Jersey

Sunday 29 November 2020

A local school has planted 500 trees in the space of just two days this week in a bid to ‘rewild’ the island.

St. George’s Prep took part in the exercise on Thursday and Friday, with the help of the Parks Department, who sourced the trees and oversaw the planting between the former Les Quennevais School site and Don Bridge in St. Brelade.

To follow covid guidance, the planting was carried out in class ‘bubbles’. 

The rewilding mission, which has been sponsored by Rathbones, is part of a number of actions the school is taking after declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’ in September 2019.

Efforts are being led by science teacher Andrea Lathwell, who explained the rationale behind the tree planting plan: “The trees are designed to provide essential wildlife habitats and are part of a rewilding scheme we have been discussing with the Parks Department for some time.”

Pictured: The teacher leading the mission, Andrea Lathwell.

Richard Le Gresley, Parks Department Assistant Manager, was full of praise for the project, saying: “Seeing the younger generation wanting to be actively involved in our environment is inspiring and gives us so much hope for the future of our island’s green spaces.”

The trees could be the first notable addition to a new online ‘tree directory’ that has been launched by the Government’s Natural Environment Department and the Jersey Tree and Hedgerow Forum ahead of National Tree Week, which starts on Monday and will see as many islanders as possible encouraged to plant trees.

The online tool allows islanders to record where they have planted trees and hedgerows.

It’s hoped that it will help the future planning of new woodland and wildlife corridors, as well as assist with the island’s response to the climate emergency. It will also identify the locations for any invasive tree diseases that target particular species.  

Pictured: Hedgerow planting underway.

Islanders can access the tool on the Jersey Biodiversity Centre (JBC) website where they can then directly record their planting details into the online form and onto a map of the Island.

Details include:

• The amount planted
• The species of plant
• The location

“Planting a tree, a copse or a hedgerow is a small act and not very visible considering the good it does to the environment. Having this new online tool will help us track our progress at the Island level so all the small efforts add up into something measurable that will play a vital role in protecting our environment and helping us to reach our target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030,” Assistant Environment Minister Deputy Gregory Guida said.

“During this tree planting season, we are hoping our new recording tool will encourage more Islanders and organisations to be involved not only in tree planting but by contributing to our valuable work in collecting data on the environment. Planting a tree is one of the easiest things one can do to have a positive impact on our environment and trees and hedgerows are vital for enhancing our local biodiversity.”