I heard a soft sound, like wind through the trees,
But there was no wind, for the air was still,
And the forest stood waiting, silent and strong,
Trees standing guard as they always will
(Rick W. Cotton, Commune with God)
It is all very well bemoaning political leaders’ procrastinations regarding the climate crisis, but perhaps we should do our bit and shame the politicians into action. So it was that on a cool, but dry Saturday morning at the end of November, I made my way to the Nuns Moor in Newcastle to help Northumberland Wildlife Trust plant bushes.
It has been noted that trees are essential to our ecosystems and are often described as “the ‘lungs’ of the Earth because they’re able to store carbon and produce additional oxygen for our planet. Trees also stabilise the soil and can reduce air temperature and humidity, as well as reducing flooding and improving water quality. Without trees, it’s likely that we wouldn’t be able to live on this planet at all. Naturally the same could be said about trees smaller cousins, bushes.
Around 21 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year can be absorbed by a tree, achieved when the tree is fully grown and “over a lifetime of 100 years, one tree could absorb around a tonne of CO2”.
Northumberland Wildlife Trust
Northumberland Wildlife Trust is a charity whose mission is to save wild places and wildlife while also helping people to get closer to nature. In order to do this, they manage over 70 nature reserves and help to create wildlife-rich landscapes and seas by “working in partnership with other organisations, landowners and communities”.
Northumberland Wildlife Trust is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts across the UK, a grassroots movement working to make life better – for people, for wildlife, and crucially for future generations. They aim to inspire people to better appreciate the true value of nature through their events, education programmes, visitor centres, volunteering and campaigns.
Planting the bushes
The actual planting of the bushes was a simple enough task, which was explained to us very clearly. We were provided with spades and measuring sticks and every 20 centimetres or so, between the trees alongside Fenham Hall Drive, we dug into the ground a letter T-shape and pulled up some of the soil. The ground was soft and very pliable after heavy rain the previous day.
Then we took our bush and making sure that the roots were tucked up neatly and not going to be sticking out from the soil, we placed the bush in the hole we had just dug and then put the soil back, stamping it down with our feet.
Next to the bushes we placed sections of bamboo stick and then carefully put a protective plastic wrap around both the stick and the bush, helping the bush to stand up straight and protecting it from small animals, while it was growing.
A variety of bushes were planted including dogwood, hazel, hawthorn, holly, wild privet, crab apple, blackthorn and dog rose.
There was a good turnout of volunteers and in all over 200 bushes must have been planted in the morning session alone, with another session due that afternoon.
The aim of the planting
I managed to have a quick chat with Liz, a spokesperson from Northumberland Wildlife Trust, who explained what the planting exercise was all about. One of the aims, as is so often the case with planting trees or bushes these days was to increase the amount of carbon capture in the area. We were also helping to provide small animals and birds with a wildlife corridor and a habitat for said small animal and birds.
Northumberland Wildlife Trust always source their bushes and trees from local sources if they can, to keep down the amount of carbon used in transporting them.
Ordinary people doing the extraordinary
This was a well organised and very straightforward exercise, which helped me and no doubt others who took part to have a feeling of satisfaction after an hour and a half or so of planting, feeling that we were giving something back.
And while it is important what those in power make the right decisions and COP30 was another disappointment to many, there is something about ordinary people simply taking up the slack and doing something extraordinary themselves.
We can make a difference and in so doing set an example for those in power to follow.
For more information about Northumberland Wildlife Trust and their planting, please see here and here
