Quarter of a million trees planted in project

More than 250,000 trees have now been planted in a community project in Devon.

The Saving Devon's Treescapes project, led by the Devon Wildlife Trust, was set up in 2021 to help restore the losses of tree cover caused by disease ash dieback.

The project is formally set to close at the end of this month after the completion of its funding.

The trees distributed by the project were available for free and benefited community spaces, farmland, parks, gardens and school grounds.

The charity hopes the trees will grow to benefit people and wildlife for decades to come.

Michael Rogers, project manager, said: "I have worked on landscape-scale conservation projects for nearly two decades, from coastal grasslands on the north coast of Scotland to the dunes of the Carmarthenshire coast in south Wales - however, it's Saving Devon's Treescapes that has had the biggest impact on me personally and has probably had the most impact on biodiversity too.

"This project has been an incredible success, nurturing and planting more than 250,000 trees, but the real impact will be in several years when those communities and landowners who have been inspired by us to plant or grow their own trees continue the work we started here.

"That is why this project will have a lasting influence - one that is invaluable in our constant efforts to preserve Devon's habitats and the species that depend on them for future generations."

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