Free
Trees
With the
help of volunteers the Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership gave out
10,000 free trees during national tree week to over 300 people as part of
the Kent Free Tree Scheme. Ashford,
Canterbury
, and Thanet districts are being made a little bit greener, thanks to the
scheme co-ordinated by the Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership
with help from Kent County Council. Christmas came early for the
applicants, who collected trees from
collection points at Wye, the
University
of
Kent
at
Canterbury
and the Tesco store at Westwood Cross in Thanet. They were also given a
booklet on how to plant and care for the trees.
Jon Shelton
from the Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership says, “The trees are now
being planted in gardens and in the countryside, improving the landscape,
benfitting wildlife and combatting pollution. Although
Kent
is a well-wooded county, trees have been lost to development and changes
in agriculture. Also, the trees given out in the scheme are native
species, which are generally better for wildlife than the exotic species
often planted in gardens. This is not the first time the scheme has been
run, and this time it seems to have been as popular and successful as
ever.”
It’s worth
remembering that planting trees is one way we can all directly help to
combat global warming. Each applicant to the scheme was allowed up to 25
trees, which could in their lifetimes absorb up to 7 tonnes of carbon
dioxide – equivalent to a almost a year’s worth of emmissions from an
average household!
The
scheme is sponsored by Network Rail, Kent County Council, Ashford Borough
Council, Canterbury City Council
and Thanet District Council. County wide over 40,000 trees were
distributed.
