National Tree Week

Each year since 1975 National Tree Week has encouraged us to celebrate our beautiful surroundings for a whole week – and what better way to do it than planting loads of your own trees?  This year the fun takes place from 24 November to 2 December 2018.

We have been celebrating the importance of our trees for hundreds of years.  Two of our great British trees were even commemorated on British stamps;  the Oak tree in February 1973, and this was followed in February 1974 by a stamp featuring the Horse Chestnut tree.

Commonly described as the lungs of the earth, trees are such an important part of the world around us.   They provide us with oxygen and are great for animals, birds and insects who need them for food and a home to live in.  Did you know that a mature English Oak tree is home to over 284 species of insect alone!  And that’s not counting all the other species that the Oak supports.

But with lots of trees being cut down all over the globe we can see that many humans take them for granted.

Although you might think there’s never a tree far away, the truth is that most places in Europe have many more wooded areas than our greenery here …

Every year during National Tree Week, Tree Council organisations, hundreds of schools and others set up fun tree-themed events open to the public.  It’s so wonderful to learn about the fantastic work being carried out in our local communities to ensure that our important woodland areas are kept in good health and are enjoyed by future generations.

With stories of rain forest deforestation and destruction seeming to come from so far away, it can be hard to remember that we can make a difference right here on our very door step.

So … take a leaf out of The Tree Council’s book and branch out with your own National Tree Week event to raise the importance of tree planting.  There’s also information on how you can plan and advertise your own event.   Anyone can do it!

Other Tree Council events that you can take part in throughout the year are: Walk in the Wood during May and Seed Gathering Season which starts in September.