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National Tree Week at Tyne Rivers Trust

We’ll be planting native species in different locations around the catchment this season, starting at Hillhead Farm in Wark. The farm has a rich mosaic of existing habitats and we’ll be introducing more hedgerow corridors, replacing storm damaged conifers and complementing existing planting and woodland blocks with a variety of native species to help biodiversity flourish.

Launched in 1975, National Tree Week is celebrating its 48th anniversary this year, but perhaps now more than ever, planting trees and the importance of trees in both urban and rural environments in the face of climate change is on all our minds. Tree planting season is one we’ve become well prepared for here at the Trust, from March 2022 to June 2023 our incredible volunteers helped us plant just under 19,000 trees, this includes 5,300 hedgerow plants and 750 trees planted in the summer as an experiment on survival rates. We also planted an additional 1160 wetland plants as part of our Diffuse Metal project in November 2022. 

This year we’ll be planting native species in different locations around the catchment, starting at Hillhead Farm in Wark. The farm has a rich mosaic of existing habitats and we’ll be introducing more hedgerow corridors, replacing storm damaged conifers and complementing existing planting and woodland blocks with a variety of native species to help biodiversity flourish.

10 Reasons To Love Trees this #NationalTreeWeek

1. Trees provide shelter for fish, wildlife and insects
2. During hot temperatures, areas of shade can help reduce the temperature of the water, which reduces the risk of drought
3. Tree roots stabilise the river banks, reducing bank erosion
4. When leaves drop, they provide important nutrients and food for organisms which are food to trout and birds
5. Trees protect rivers from pollution runoff and have been known to almost completely prevent pesticides and phosphates from reaching watercourses
6. Fallen trees are critical in slowing river flow, they create habitat variation and shelter for fish, restoring natural movement in rivers, and trapping detritus which breaks down into food for river insects
7. We Rivers Trusts often use trees to build leaky dams to help slow the flow of water and reduce flood risks
8. Trees act as natural sponges, collecting and filtering rainfall and slowing the flow
9. They capture carbon dioxide in their leaves and roots
10. They create beautiful wild spaces for people and wildlife

If you’d like to try your hand at planting trees with us this season, please do get in touch with our Volunteer Coordinator Paul McGinn at p.mcginn@tyneriverstrust.org or call him on 07817 238455. Beginners are very welcome, we will provide all kit, full training and transport from our office in Corbridge if required.