11th March 2019
A third annual planting day at the Countess of Chester Park helped continue the rapid growth of new woodland on the site, to be enjoyed by generations to come while also helping alleviate the effects of climate change.
Last Saturday saw nearly 200 eager volunteers turn out to help and between them they managed to plant 500 native broadleaf trees, taking the total of new trees at the park to well over 3000. These include oak, alder, silver birch, hornbeam, hazel, maple, crab apple and wild cherry – species which will also encourage more wildlife into the site.
As with previous tree planting events at the park, the initiative has been made possible by a partnership between the Land Trust who own the park, TCV Merseyside who manage the park, the Friends of the Park Group, The Mersey Forest, Upton councillor Matt Bryan, Cheshire West and Chester Council and OVO Energy who provide the trees.
Clare Olver from The Mersey Forest said, “We always look forward to this planting event. It’s a fantastic example of the benefits of partnership working and testament to the huge value of volunteering your time.
“So many people and organisations have worked together to make this day such a success.
“We’re always delighted by just how many members of the public turn up on the day, roll up their sleeves and get stuck in to help with planting.
“With climate change taking such a high profile at the moment it’s important to remember just what a difference planting trees can make in tackling this global issue.”
The event proved that many people are now realising the importance of green spaces for a whole range of reasons including tackling pollution, improving biodiversity and mental health.
Some even showed great commitment to the cause, travelling fifty miles to this event. The Howard family travelled all the way from Blackburn to take part and said, “We feel it is really important to teach our children how important it is to look after our green spaces and we wanted them to get hands-on experience of planting trees.”
The Howard family – Credit: Andy Scargill
The trees will help to form part of the Northern Forest, a plan launched by the Woodland Trust and England’s Community Forests (including Mersey Forest) last year. The ambitious 25 year plan will see 50 million trees planted along the M62 corridor.
By the end of March 2019, nearly 600,000 trees will have been planted across a range of locations from existing woodland sites and ex farmland, to schools and community grounds.
If you love the Countess of Chester Country Park and would like to be involved in its future, contact the Friends of the Countess of Chester Country Park at Friends.coccp@gmail.com or call Sarah Palgrave-Neath at 01925 852005 for more information.
Volunteers came together to plant trees at the Countess of Chester Country Park - Credit: Andy Scargill
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