The Kent Tree Warden Scheme

Resources and information concerning the local group, Kent Tree & Pond Wardens can be found at the Kent Tree & Pond Warden webpages

Trees have become an integral part of our lives. Not only do they help to improve the air quality and appearance of environments but they also act as valuable educational resources and habitats for wildlife. Despite the benefits of trees, vast areas of woodland have been lost in recent years to urbanisation, disease and vandalism.

The Tree Warden Scheme is a national initiative, founded by the Tree Council and sponsored by National Grid Transco. It promotes trees and woodlands and provides opportunities for community involvement with the management of these habitats. Local volunteers are excellent Tree Wardens as they understand the local attitudes and environments and will benefit directly from the enhancement of the woodlands. The amount of time a warden spends volunteering and what work they do is up to the individual. In many areas they are a few wardens who work together, dividing the responsibilties between them.

The work of a Tree Warden is extremely varied and involves dealing with a wide range of people, from members of the public to local councils and landowners. Existing wardens have assisted with conducting surveys of trees and woodlands, offering advice to communities on suitable species to plant, how to manage a habitat and from where to obtain project funding, notifying the relevant person of hazardous trees and organising public events such as tree planting days and guided walks. There is also the opportunity to get involved with publicising the scheme through parish newsletters or distributing leaflets.

All Tree Wardens are required to attend a series of 1 day training courses organised by BTCV. These courses are free of charge and provide an excellent opportunity to learn more about tree issues and meet fellow wardens. The courses cover tree identification, laws and grants, coppice ecology, hazardous trees and hedgerow ecology and management. In addition to this BTCV also provide a selection of reference materials and a regular newsletter to keep you up to date with events.

Become a Tree Warden

Becoming a Tree Warden is simple. Just contact the BTCV Kent office on 01233 666 519 or at kent@btcv.org.uk.

Due to the community work involved in being a Tree Warden, we would recommend you also contact your local parish council or conservation group. This will ensure they are aware of you and can also act as valuable support.

Tree Wardens Celebrate 20th Anniversary at House of Lords

Tree champions from Kent have been headed for the House of Lords to mark 20 years of The Tree Council’s national Tree Warden Scheme and celebrate its National Tree Week.

Volunteer Tree Wardens, their network co-ordinators, politicians and senior local council officials from across the country gathered for a special reception hosted by Tree Council Trustee The Lord Best OBE on behalf of The Tree Council.

They included BTCV Kent’s Tree Warden Scheme Co-ordinator Fiona Houghton and Kent Tree Warden Volunteer Chris Gove. BTCV in Kent have been running the Tree Warden Scheme in the county since it’s start twenty years ago.

Environmental charity The Tree Council launched the national Tree Warden Scheme in 1990. Today it is a UK-wide force of 8,000 local volunteer tree champions in 150 local networks in England, Wales and Scotland, dedicated to their communities’ trees – both rural and, increasingly, urban.

“Tree Wardens have proved to be a very cost-effective way of helping to green their communities by planting and looking after local trees – whether in town or country,” said Lord Best. “Tree Wardening is the embodiment of the Government’s ‘Big Society’ plans to engage more people in becoming ‘community organisers’. As Tree Wardens already fit the bill, they are a thriving example of what the Coalition Government wishes to see on a wider scale. We look forward to them spearheading government campaigns like The Big Tree Plant, particularly as the Tree Warden Scheme is stronger than ever before in urban areas – in communities which especially need trees and the benefits they bring.”

National Tree Week, the launch of the tree planting season, is organised by The Tree Council. The 36th annual National Tree Week runs from 27 November to 5 December 2010.

Said Lord Best: “Trees must continue to be planted, and we are appealing to communities throughout the UK to carry the message to heart this National Tree Week. We want to see a greener future for the sake of our children and their children, so the sooner we get into the habit of thinking about where we can plant trees, and how we can ensure that they survive, the more chance there is of that becoming a realistic prospect.”

• The Tree Council set up the national Tree Warden Scheme as a direct response to the Great Storm of 15/16 October 1987, when 15 million trees were lost to the British countryside. Consultation with Tree Council member organisations led The Tree Council to develop a national, community-led initiative for trees.

• Tree Wardens are appointed by parish councils, local authorities, voluntary organisations and local partnerships. They work closely with professionals, such as tree officers or other local authority colleagues who are often key to the success of the Scheme. They organise activities, fundraise, research and advise on trees and related topics, acting as the “eyes and ears” for trees in their communities.

• Typical Tree Warden activities include protecting trees, growing, planting and caring for new ones, gathering information about local trees, developing imaginative projects with schools, and getting involved with Tree Council Community Action Programme initiatives such as National Tree Week, Walk in the Woods and Seed Gathering Season, as well as the Tree Care Campaign, Hedge Tree Campaign and Green Monument Campaign.

Over the past 20 years, Tree Wardens have dedicated an amazing total of 22 million hours to their communities’ trees – worth nearly £154 million pounds* – and planted 6 million trees. In recent years, the value of Tree Warden time, plus money raised locally, has been about £15million a year. This information is gathered from the bi-annual Tree Warden Survey. • National Tree Week was launched by The Tree Council in 1975 to follow up the success of National Tree Planting Year, with its slogan “Plant A Tree In ‘73”. Every year, upward of half a million adults and children take part in around 2000 events across the UK, organised by Tree Council member organisations, many of its volunteer Tree Wardens, local community groups and schools. Most events involve tree planting, but many also use other ways of raising tree awareness.

Volunteers Plant a Fruitful Hedge in Singleton

Free, Healthy Food For The Picking

As part of The Tree Council's new project – Hedgerow Harvest, Kent Tree Wardens came together with BTCV Green Gym volunteers to plant 100m of fruiting hedge at Singleton Environment Centre.

“It will grow to make an attractive green edge to the new kitchen garden that is good for people and good for wildlife.” BTCV Project Officer Fiona Houghton said. This demonstration hedge has been planted to inspire other groups to plant productive hedges in the community.

“In the past, hedges were used as larders of healthy seasonal food – apples, berries and nuts were collected as a healthy tasty supplement to the diet,” commented Margaret Lipscombe, The Tree Council's programme director for Hedgerow Harvest. “This is a great project for anyone with an interest in food and the environment to get involved in.”

The Hedgerow Harvest project seeks to reconnect people with their heritage of free local healthy food. It builds on existing work being carried out as part of The Tree Council's Hedge Tree Campaign and will encourage local people to access food for free on their doorstep by supporting a network of hedgerow foragers across the region who can inspire their neighbours and undertake projects in their communities. The project will:

•promote the use of hedgerow produce by providing advice and information on a hedgerow harvest website

•produce a collection of recipes collected from Tree Wardens and Tree Council members to inspire more people to collect hedgerow produce

•develop 10 demonstration hedge projects that can be accessed by interested local community and school groups

•provide advice about what to grow and how to plant and maintain a productive hedge

•produce a hedgerow harvest teachers pack with lesson plans that meet the need of key stage 3

The project will run for two years and is supported by a Local Food Grant from The Big Lottery.

For further information, please contact (press enquiries only) Margaret Lipscombe, Programme Director – Hedgerow Harvest; land line: 020 7407 9992 / mobile:07967 201 624

NOTE TO EDITORS 1. Hedge Tree Campaign The Hedge Tree Campaign was launched to highlight and help stop the decline in hedge trees across the country. Hedge trees are traditionally part of the UK landscape and havens for wildlife. Yet, of an estimated 1.8 million hedge trees, nearly a third are over a century old and may disappear from the landscape at any time over the next 25 years. Without an immediate effort to establish new hedge trees, there will be profound changes to the UK landscape and its biodiversity. The Hedge Tree Campaign which is supported by Network Rail will increase the awareness of why hedge trees matter, halt their decline and help the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) meet an important National Biodiversity Action Plan target - to ensure there is no net loss of hedgerow trees in the UK. To find out more about hedge trees see The Tree Council publication The Hedge Tree Handbook.

2. Local Food Local Food is a £50 million programme that will distribute lottery grants to a variety of food-related projects to help make locally grown food accessible and affordable to local communities.

3. BTCV The charity was set up in 1959, and has a successful history of environmental conservation volunteering throughout the UK and around the world. Its vision is for a better environment where people are valued, included and involved and it aims to create a more sustainable future by inspiring people and improving places. BTCV's values are integral to all its work. They have been developed through more than five decades of a 'hands-on' approach to conservation activities.

4. Kent Tree Wardens The work of a Tree Warden is extremely varied and involves dealing with a wide range of people, from members of the public to local councils and landowners. Existing wardens have assisted with conducting surveys of trees and woodlands, offering advice to communities on suitable species to plant, how to manage a habitat and from where to obtain project funding, notifying the relevant person of hazardous trees and organising public events such as tree planting days and guided walks. Becoming a Tree Warden in Kent is simple. Just contact the Kent BTCV Tree Warden Scheme Co-ordinator, Fiona Houghton on 01233 666 519 or f.houghton@btcv.org.uk. For more information about The Tree Council's Tree Warden Scheme see below.

5. The Tree Council Environmental charity The Tree Council is the UK's lead charity for trees in all settings, urban and rural, promoting their importance in a changing environment and it works in partnership with communities, organisations and government to make trees matter to everyone. As the coalition body for over 180 organisations working together for trees, it focuses on getting more trees, of the right kind, in the right places; better care for all trees of all ages and inspiring effective action for trees.

It works with its national volunteer Tree Warden Scheme and member organisations to engage people in biodiversity and environmental issues and to promote planting and conservation of trees and woods in town and country. It operates a tree-planting grants programme for UK schools and communities to plant trees and create woodland habitats, as well as working on an agenda for change that includes its annual Tree Care Campaign, begun in 1999, the Green Monument Campaign and Hedge Tree Campaign. Its annual Community Action Programme includes Walk in the Woods month, (launched in 1996,) Seed Gathering Season (launched as Seed Gathering Sunday in 1998 and refreshed in 2006) and National Tree Week (first run in March 1975).

Websites www.treecouncil.org www.hedgerowharvest.org.uk