Fresh focus on Kent’s heritage trees
Kent Tree Wardens will be playing their part in a new project focused on heritage trees. Tree Council member BTCV, which co-ordinates the Kent Tree Warden Network, has been awarded a £652,400 Heritage Lottery Fund grant to help identify, protect and manage the county’s rich stock of heritage trees.
“For example, Kent has 10 per cent of England’s irreplaceable ancient woodland. We want to identify and record the oldest examples and save and protect them for future generations,” said project officer Virginia Hodge. The five-year project aims to involve hundreds of people of all ages in activities ranging from volunteering to become heritage tree surveyors to taking part in tree planting, guided walks, biodiversity and heritage tree ecology courses and educational sessions.
There are also plans to plant, and commemorate with plaques, 24 heritage trees of the future on sites chosen in conjunction with local authorities and local people.
• To find out more about getting involved contact Virginia Hodge on 01233 666519 or email
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www.btcv.org/kentheritagetrees
Tree Warden tackles Spanish bluebell
Also in Kent, Tree Warden Carole Trowbridge has launched a campaign against the Spanish bluebell on her patch. Carole, Tree Warden for Ash-cum-Ridley, has been involved in activities in and around her parish to promote, protect and even create native English bluebell woods. Working with volunteers from the New Ash Green Woodlands Group, the activities include annual removal of invasive laurel from three wooded areas, planting 3,000 bluebell bulbs in a young wood, and annual bluebell walks.
After taking part in a national bluebell survey (run by Tree Council member Plantlife International) some years ago, she developed a passionate interest in protecting local woodlands from the invasion of Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica), and has been quietly campaigning ever since.
“This year I decided to up the ante and mount a full-on campaign,” she explained. “I have already gained the permission of landowners and interested parties to carry out a number of activities next winter and spring, including leafleting, posters, and articles in the village/parish magazines.”
She is now looking for funding to introduce an ‘amnesty’ system, whereby anyone who agrees to remove Spanish bluebells from their garden (many houses border the parish’s woodlands) can exchange them for native bluebell bulbs (Hyacinthoides non-scripta).
• For more information contact
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