Planting is underway at a new woodland near Shepton Mallet. Help needed to get the final 2500 trees in the ground!

In February, local charity Avon Needs Trees announced a new 10-acre woodland creation site north east of Shepton Mallet, with plans to plant 4,000 trees by the end of March through the help of volunteers.

So far, they have planted 1,500 trees, including oak, willow, hornbeam, hawthorn and hazel. They still have 2,500 trees to plant and welcome anyone who wants to volunteer on site and support in the next few weeks to do so.

For details of how to sign up, head to their website: https://www.avonneedstrees.org.uk/volunteering/

The site, called “Ed Woods” after the late landowner, is the charity’s first Land Partnership venture. This means the charity will work with the site’s landowners to create permanent woodland, rather than fundraising to buy the site, as has been the case for Avon Needs Trees other woodland creation sites. As far as we know, this is also the first land partnership of its kind in the UK!

Deputy Director, Judith Gordon, says: "We're so pleased with how the community are supporting the creation of this new woodland by planting trees with us. We'd like to thank those who have volunteered so far.

“We've been joined by volunteers from across the area, coming from places including Frome, Shepton Mallet, Wells and Glastonbury, as well as local businesses, wellbeing groups and youth groups. As we look ahead to the final few weeks of the tree planting season, we need all hands on deck to get the remaining 2,500 trees in the ground.

“We'd like to invite everyone in the community to join us to have a great day outdoors with us, enhancing this corner of our local area to benefit nature and the environment for generations to come."

Avon Needs Trees would like to thank landowner’s Bob and George who inherited the land from their late father and mother and wanted to create a new woodland to honour their parents’ life. They wanted to partner with a local, established charity who would undertake the task of creating a woodland, ensuring it was made up of trees that would suit the site conditions and would be maintained long-term.

In the last few weeks of tree-planting, people have come from across the county to plant trees in honour of Ed’s life.

George says: “Our dad, Ed, sadly died last year. He’d had cancer on and off for six years and it had been a huge struggle for our family as we were still grieving our mum, Nicky, who’d died in 2017.

“Dedicating a woodland to mum and dad provides a living, growing memorial to them and a poignant way of remembering and honouring their lives. They both loved nature and wildlife. They met at agricultural college and fell in love. Their passion for farming and living off the land flourished during their time together. The house and the land holds so many incredible memories for my family and friends.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to bring life back to our already troubled land.”

Avon Needs Trees would also like to thank Forest of Avon Trust (FOAT) for the funding and support towards Ed Woods. FOAT’s Director Alex Stone, says: “Having access to our ‘Trees for Climate’ grant of over £1.3million per year into the region for woodland creation means we can fund and support projects like Ed’s Wood.

“Often we just fund the planting but it is an added joy to support and see the connection between dedicated and innovating charities such as Avon Needs Trees and those individuals who have a vision for their land, are prepared to give it up to woodland for the wider benefits and get to make this a reality. Wonderful projects like this will give local people a chance to get involved and bring all the other benefits that a new woodland does!”

In fifty years, Ed Woods will be a flourishing and healthy young woodland, providing essential ecosystem services through locking up carbon and facilitating local nature recovery. Trees have been selected based on soil and site characteristics, with an appreciation of a warming climate.

The wood will be entering a time of increased challenges but its resilience through a diverse and appropriate species mix will allow it to thrive and be an asset not just to local wildlife but also to the wider ecosystem.

Avon Needs Trees was set up in 2019 in response to the climate and biodiversity crises, with a mission to purchase land to permanently reforest and rewild in the Bristol-Avon river catchment area. Its aims are to lock-up carbon, improve local biodiversity, provide natural flood management, and publicly accessible green space where appropriate. Adding to their two established sites in Wiltshire, spanning forty seven acres and over 20,000 trees, ANT have announced two sites this year, Ed Woods and the Great Avon Wood, next to Pensford.

Ed Woods will be planted up until the end of March. For more information and to sign up, visit: https://www.avonneedstrees.org.uk/volunteering/.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to support our project, you can also donate via our website or by emailing: [email protected].