FREE
TREES SCHEME A SUCCESS
Canterbury
and Thanet Districts are being made a little bit greener, thanks to a
scheme co-ordinated by the Kentish Stour Countryside Project with
help from Kent County Council. Christmas came early for over a hundred
applicants to the scheme, who collected a total of two and a half thousand
free trees in December, from collection points at the
University
of
Kent
,
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 Project 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 Free Tree Scheme was sponsored by National Rail, Kent County Council, Tilhill,
National Grid, Canterbury City Council and Thanet District Council.
