Get planting trees across the west!

Would-be tree planters in the area are being asked to roll up their sleeves.

It’s ahead of a massive tree-planting venture.

One Million Trees in One Day is a cross-border initiative.

Its aims is to see a million young trees planted at sites across Northern Ireland and the Republic –all in the space of 24 hours.

You can apply online for packs of 50 native saplings – that’s enough to create a small woodland.

The big planting day is Saturday 11 February. 

The packs, which are subsidised, are available for a modest application fee of €21 or (at the time of writing) £18.89. They will be delivered to local collection points in readiness for the big planting day. 

Imogen Rabone is the project co-ordinator.

She says Northern Ireland is short on native trees and woodland. 

“We want to help people plant their own trees in both rural and urban areas, and with a focus on small sites.

“We’ve been testing the water in recent years, and know that the interest is there.  During its pilot phase, 2013 to 2016, the project has helped to plant over 650,000 native trees at more than 3,000 sites right across the island of Ireland,” she explains.

The initiative is supported by the Woodland Trust in Northern Ireland.

Gregor Fulton, operations manager with the Woodland Trust, says this is an excellent opportunity for people who don’t have huge areas of land to plant and who, for example, just want to strengthen a hedgerow or create a copse. 

Applications close on Saturday 31 December.  Trees will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.  To apply for trees or to simply find out more visit www.onemilliontreesinoneday.com