Branching out

AS the Yorkshire Dales evolves, and the National Park’s boundaries branch out into Cumbria and Lancashire, it is crucial that the area’s natural beauty is preserved for future generations to enjoy.

By The Newsroom

Published 9th Mar 2011, 00:00 BST

This is why the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust deserves to be congratulated for its magnificent achievement in planting one million trees – a feat that was duly celebrated yesterday.

A huge undertaking, it is one of more than 600 projects that have been carried out by the body to enhance the Dales, and compliment the work of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority as it comes to terms with its budget cuts.

In many respects, this tree-planting initiative offers visual evidence of the Big Society in action – volunteers coming together to preserve Yorkshire’s rural heritage. They did not require a political call-to-arms to do so; they did it because of an engrained sense of duty.

Perhaps David Cameron should take note when he next visits the region for a family day out in the countryside.