People living in and around Cardiff will be able to collect a tree to plant at home this weekend as part of an ambitious Welsh Government project to fight climate change.
On Saturday 5th March, Cardiff’s Bute Park will host a pop-up hub which is part of a pilot scheme that will see the release of the first 5,000 trees to households in Wales.
It follows a promise made by Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters in December that every household in Wales would be offered a free tree.
Welsh Government has teamed up with Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales to deliver the My Tree, Our Forest project.
The hub will be located next to the Summerhouse Café in Bute Park from 9am-3pm on Saturday 5th March. In autumn, and to coincide with the next tree planting season, a hub will return to Cardiff as the scheme will be extended to release more than 200,000 trees from 25 regional hubs across Wales.
Every household that collects a tree will be provided with a tag that tells them how to effectively plant their tree and a link to a page on care and advice for their survival for the next few years.
Native tree species including crab apple, wild cherry, sessile oak, alder or downy birch will be provided as small tree saplings of around 20-40cm which will grow into small-medium sized trees, suitable for gardens and smaller spaces.
If local people are unable to travel to the hub to collect their tree, from the autumn, My Tree, Our Forest will include the ‘Plant a Tree for Me’ initiative where a tree will be planted on their behalf at an agreed location in conjunction with the project’s community partners.
Natalie Buttriss, Director of Coed Cadw said “This project is a great example of how ‘the will’ to do something, becomes ‘the way’ in a short space of time.
“We know from our experience of tree planting projects how much people care about the tree they are planting, and how this can inspire the whole family and their network of friends.
“It’s great to also have on board our community partner, Llais Y Goedwig, who have helped us to set up the tree hubs that will be central to this project.”
To find out more about the first phase of the project and to make sure you’re first to know about the next collection, visit gov.wales/national-forest.
