Young sapling for the future

Its autumn 2010. You have gone off to Heartwood, the Woodland Trust’s most ambitious woodland creation site, to help plant 850 acres of woodland. You are all fired up to stick your shovel in the ground and to plant some of the 600,000 trees needed to transform the land to wood-land. 

It’s a moment in time, an experience for you, your family and friends to share. You get muddy and meet the local Woodland Trust staff to talk about the future of the site and all the plans for this magnificent new haven for wildlife. Then you go home, live your life and normal service resumes…

Now for the Scooby-doo style ending….everything goes wobbly and you are transported forward 12 years, to Heartwood Forest. Your hair is a bit greyer and your waist band is a little tighter but you are stood within the magnificent, leafy legacy you have left for everyone to enjoy. As you scan the treescapes you cannot believe your (slightly short sighted by now) eyes! And you probably would never have gone if it wasn’t for those pesky kids needing entertaining.

You can make this kind of change to our landscapes in your life time. Don’t believe me? Walk with Hilary Allison in our latest manifesto film. The Woodland Trust’s Director of Policy shares the experience she had when we took her back to Londonthorpe in Grantham, Lincolnshire. It was at this site that she planted trees nearly 15 years ago. It literally took her breath away when she stopped and saw the difference she had made to our living environment by simply spending a few minutes planting a tree.

If we are to adapt to climate change, cope with the noise and stress of modern urban living and care for the spaces and places our wildlife needs to survive we need to plant trees. Simple!

The Woodland Trust manifesto campaign will run until the 6^th May. Don’t take the pressure off the politicians – keep sending your e-mails and make trees part of our new parliament.