Celebrating National Tree Week with planting at a Crawcrook school
Children in Crawcrook have been at the heart of Gateshead's efforts to plant new trees in National Tree Week.
The children from Emmaville Primary School on Main Street in Crawcrook, worked with their teachers and woodland creation officer Eve McShannon, to plant a whole line of hedge, and seven individual trees.
To help schools in Gateshead make the most of the benefits of trees, the Council has partnered with the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) to provide support for schools who would like to engage in its exciting tree planting programme by planting in school grounds.
Designs can be tailored to the requirements of each school. Eve and the children at Emmaville Primary worked with RFS Education Officer Jess Lloyd on the planting
The new trees in Crawcrook add to a bumper year of planting right across Gateshead.
In 2023/24, we saw 13,000 trees planted and two tiny forests - on the way to our longer term target of planting 100,000 new trees by 2030.
The planting was on eight different sites and covered a total of 8.3 hectares - the equivalent of over 11 full size football pitches.
This coming winter we will be planting up to 25,000 more trees, at seven sites across the east of Gateshead. These will range from standard trees to shade streets to some woodland creation within the urban area.
We have secured funding through the North East Community Forest's Trees for Climate funding.
Besides Emmaville Primary, we have also planted trees at St Philip Neri RC Primary in Dunston, and the council has a further six more schools confirmed for planting this season.
The funding is not just for planting the new trees and shrubs, but also ensuring their successful establishment and maintenance for 15 years.
In Bensham and Birtley this year we have planted two 'Tiny Forests'. These 200m2 plantations are based on the 'Miyawaki Method', which uses species of trees that would occur naturally in an area and that work together to create a diverse, multi-layered forest community. The trees are densely planted to encourage rapid growth.
Councillor John McElroy, cabinet member for the environment and transport at Gateshead Council, said: "We are very proud of the rapid progress we are achieving with tree planting.
"Our officers are working hard to identify good planting sites and get the trees in the ground.
"It's so important to keep increasing the tree cover in our area. They are important assets for nature, for wellbeing and for carbon capture to help tackle the climate crisis.
"Our partners in the local community around each site, and at the North East Community Forest have worked closely with us to bring each site forward, and we know they will bring us both environmental and social benefits."
For more information about how Gateshead can help you with planting trees, contact our Woodland Creation Officer evemcshannon@gateshead.gov.uk
National Tree Week runs 23rd November to 1st December, brings together the conservation sector, volunteers and tree-lovers to mark the start of the annual tree planting season by planting thousands of trees and hedgerows and celebrating these magnificent mainstays of our landscapes and their value to our society.
www.treecouncil.org.uk/seasonal-campaigns/national-tree-week/
Children in Crawcrook have been at the heart of Gateshead's efforts to plant new trees in National Tree Week.
The children from Emmaville Primary School on Main Street in Crawcrook, worked with their teachers and woodland creation officer Eve McShannon, to plant a whole line of hedge, and seven individual trees.
To help schools in Gateshead make the most of the benefits of trees, the Council has partnered with the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) to provide support for schools who would like to engage in its exciting tree planting programme by planting in school grounds.
Designs can be tailored to the requirements of each school. Eve and the children at Emmaville Primary worked with RFS Education Officer Jess Lloyd on the planting
The new trees in Crawcrook add to a bumper year of planting right across Gateshead.
In 2023/24, we saw 13,000 trees planted and two tiny forests - on the way to our longer term target of planting 100,000 new trees by 2030.
The planting was on eight different sites and covered a total of 8.3 hectares - the equivalent of over 11 full size football pitches.
This coming winter we will be planting up to 25,000 more trees, at seven sites across the east of Gateshead. These will range from standard trees to shade streets to some woodland creation within the urban area.
We have secured funding through the North East Community Forest's Trees for Climate funding.
Besides Emmaville Primary, we have also planted trees at St Philip Neri RC Primary in Dunston, and the council has a further six more schools confirmed for planting this season.
The funding is not just for planting the new trees and shrubs, but also ensuring their successful establishment and maintenance for 15 years.
In Bensham and Birtley this year we have planted two 'Tiny Forests'. These 200m2 plantations are based on the 'Miyawaki Method', which uses species of trees that would occur naturally in an area and that work together to create a diverse, multi-layered forest community. The trees are densely planted to encourage rapid growth.
Councillor John McElroy, cabinet member for the environment and transport at Gateshead Council, said: "We are very proud of the rapid progress we are achieving with tree planting.
"Our officers are working hard to identify good planting sites and get the trees in the ground.
"It's so important to keep increasing the tree cover in our area. They are important assets for nature, for wellbeing and for carbon capture to help tackle the climate crisis.
"Our partners in the local community around each site, and at the North East Community Forest have worked closely with us to bring each site forward, and we know they will bring us both environmental and social benefits."
For more information about how Gateshead can help you with planting trees, contact our Woodland Creation Officer evemcshannon@gateshead.gov.uk
National Tree Week runs 23rd November to 1st December, brings together the conservation sector, volunteers and tree-lovers to mark the start of the annual tree planting season by planting thousands of trees and hedgerows and celebrating these magnificent mainstays of our landscapes and their value to our society.
www.treecouncil.org.uk/seasonal-campaigns/national-tree-week/
