Your Forest for Cornwall Keeps on Growing!

Spring is now definitely with us, and what a great winter season it’s been for growing the Forest for Cornwall. The weather has been on everyone’s side to get lots of trees in the ground.

Forest for Cornwall aims to help everyone across Cornwall to plant trees in their local area – this includes parks, street trees, gardens, schools, orchards, and hedgerows, as well as supporting farmers to include trees in their current production. The winter season runs from November to the end of March, and planting during this time gives the young trees the best chance of establishing well.

Over this winter alone over 50 new orchards have been planted on private land and by community groups. Just one example is the new orchard at Moor View, near Indian Queens. Thirty trees have been planted on the land that is part of a community initiative, which will see the resulting fruit made available for all to enjoy.

Each winter the Forest for Cornwall team has organised Back Garden Free Tree giveaways, and this year we were in Padstow, Helston, Bude, Launceston, Liskeard, Newquay, Falmouth, Redruth and Torpoint. The events were held in the heart of each community at public libraries, local farm shops, as part of farmers markets and in community halls. There was a choice of nature friendly species including Hazel, Rowan, Crab Apple, Spindle, Wild Pear, and Cherry Plum. Record numbers of you came along and we were cleared out of trees each time. We’ll be organising more of these events for next winter, so get in touch if you would like one in your town!

Our work with farmers and landholders also continues to gather pace each year. This winter has seen us deliver our busiest season yet with the planting of over 50 orchards, 120 hectares of woodland, 28km of new hedgerows and nearly 220 hectares of agroforestry on farms. That’s a total of 350,000 new trees planted. These projects have taken place on farms and landholdings across the region. At Cornhill Farm, a free-range egg producer near Camborne, we’ve funded 12.5 hectares of low density planting to provide shelter for the hens. As well as encouraging them to range the whole field area, it will also contribute to improved welfare and egg quality. At Tregerles Farm, near Newquay, the farmer has created a 14-hectare system of agroforestry alongside their arable crops. This planting includes alleys of apple trees and soft fruits which will help to provide shelter, reduce soil erosion and most importantly provide an additional crop for the farm. The rows between the trees will continue to be sown with crops and also provide rotational grazing for livestock.

These projects demonstrate that targeted tree planting on farms, for practical or productive purposes, can maintain or increase agricultural productivity.  They will also contribute to nature recovery, increasing biodiversity, flood mitigation, and improving water quality and soil health.

We’re looking forward to being in the Forestry Marquee at the Royal Cornwall Show on 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th June if you would like to come and meet the team, ask questions or discuss your potential project.

If you’re interested in orchards or would like to find out more about what’s involved in planning or looking after orchard trees The Orchard Network is holding their annual gathering on Saturday 3^rd May at the University of Exeter, Penryn Campus. Have a look at their Eventbrite page to find out more: www.eventbrite.co.uk and search for Cornwall Orchard Network.

Keep an eye on our social media and webpages for more events and workshops – www.cornwall.gov.uk/forestforcornwall or email us: forestforcornwall@cornwall.gov.uk.

This article was written by Sorcha Hitchcox, Cornwall Council’s Forest for Cornwall team. This article was published in The Cornishman, Cornish Guardian and West Britton.