Yorkshire Dales get 100,000 new native trees as 19 woodlands planted

Clapham-based charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) and its partners, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Forestry Commission and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding National Beauty, worked with landowners across the Yorkshire Dales and Nidderdale to use £120,000 secured from the SITA Trust to plant almost 100,000 native broadleaf trees, covering nearly 200 acres, during the 2012 and 2013 planting seasons.

Chris Lodge, woodland development officer at YDMT, said: “Planting trees is a vital long-term investment in the environment and, thanks to this substantial grant awarded by SITA Trust and the support of landowners in the region, we are making significant long-term improvements to the Yorkshire Dales landscape.”

Gary Smith, director of conservation and community at the national park authority, said: “By working with local farmers and landowners, our partnership aims to almost double the amount of broadleaf tree cover in the national park to 5,000 hectares by 2020.

“The long-term benefits of planting trees are well documented, including absorbing carbon dioxide, enriching the landscape, providing spaces for people to enjoy and creating habitats that support hundreds of wildlife species.

“Only around 2.5 per cent of the Yorkshire Dales National Park is covered with native broadleaf trees compared with the national average of 4.8 per cent.”

The YDMT wants to hear from farmers and landowners with possible sites for planting who wish to get involved. Grant support is available.

Meanwhile a wildflower meadow has been created for the people of Northallerton.

Around 1,200 wildflower species were planted around a meadow next to the Low Gates railway crossing on Darlington Road by volunteers and staff from Northallerton Blooming Together, North Yorkshire County Council and Hambleton District Council.