Although Wiltshire County Council has been a member of The Tree Council from the beginning, it has been a 'black hole' in terms of the Tree Warden Scheme. That was until January 2009 when The Wiltshire Tree Warden network was launched.
The launch included talks and practical taster sessions on Tree identification, Ancient and Veteran Trees in the Landscape, Woodland Biodiversity and Trees and the Law. In a very short time over 50 tree Wardens have signed up, representing Parish and Town councils from across the county, thus enabling the link between the county authority and local communities. The Tree Wardens role will include planting and caring for trees and local woods, surveying trees and gathering information about them, providing early warning of disease or vandalism, getting together with like-minded people for training and field trips, leading guided tree walks, setting up tree nurseries using seeds collected locally, and above all, getting local communities involved to make trees matter to everyone.A program of Tree Warden
Events planned for 2009 including, Veteran Tree Workshop, Tree Nursery Visit, Practical Planting Workshop, Understanding Trees and the Law, Woodland visits plus links to national events such as Oak Apple Day, Seed Gathering Sunday and National Tree Week. Wiltshire Tree Wardens will also be present at the Cranborne Chase Woodfair in October. A newsletter is being developed to keep Tree Wardens updated and informed.
Wiltshire Tree Wardens welcomes new Tree Wardens whatever their skills or interests. Please visit the Wiltshire Tree Wardens website for more information: www.wiltshiretreewardens.co.uk
