CLIMATE protesters Extinction Rebellion are to plant at least 30,000 oak trees across the country.
The group say they’re taking the action following reports earlier this year that 750,000 oak saplings were facing destruction as the Government had reneged on promises of a huge national tree planting scheme,
Extinction Rebellion Rewilding’s Save the Oaks campaign has put in an initial order for 30,000 oak saplings having crowdfunded more than £10,000 so far.
At the same time, having secured a reduced cost of 22p per oak sapling from Maelor Forest Nurseries, Save the Oaks is extending its community focused campaign so it can gift more saplings for free to people who have access to suitable English oak tree planting locations across the UK.
Those wanting to get involved can donate and/or apply to become a tree guardian.
“The support we’ve seen is a testament to how a community can come together in difficult times. From the applications we’ve seen so far, it’s clear that people want to act for a better future, one where humanity and nature are connected,” said Natasha Somers, a volunteer from Save the Oaks.
Mike Harvey, managing director of Maelor Forest Nurseries Ltd, said: “We are delighted that these oak saplings have found good homes. We were devastated at the prospect of having to destroy plants, which we had spent two years growing and nurturing, only to find they ultimately were being left without a future for reasons beyond our control.
“To leave the crop in the field and remove it unsold in its third year would have been prohibitively costly, but thanks to the interest in the trees we have been able to find a home for most of them, as well as our following crop. A fresh crop of acorns will be sown once the trees are removed.”
The oaks are being planted across England, including in Worcestershire where 1,000 saplings will be put alongside another 2,500 native trees species, in wavy lines with the Extinction Rebellion symbol plotted out in Scots Pine in the centre.
Cambridge-based ecologist Kevin Hand, who for many years ran the government-backed National Tree Week, said: “We hope this will highlight all the positive, creative work which Extinction Rebellion groups do to combat climate heating and extinction of wildlife, locally and globally.
“The Covid crisis can be viewed as yet another symptom of us humans interacting negatively with nature.”
To donate to the programme, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/extinctionrebellionrewilding.
