It follows a similar effort last year which has been sustained by a team of volunteers working to nurture and tend the more than 20,000 native saplings that make up the hedgerow.
Planting this winter will be inland and to the south of the work carried out in 2019, running from Jersey Zoo through to La Hougue Bie and Queen’s Valley.
The project’s co-ordinator, Conrad Evans, said that approximately 10,000 whips had been planted to date, with the balance of the stock due to be delivered next week.
‘It has been an unpredictable year, with the issues thrown up by Covid but progress with the planting has been excellent. Four of the Jersey Royal Company’s staff were part of the project last year, so continuity in the workforce has certainly paid dividends,’ said Mr Evans.
This year’s campaign is part of a wider ambition to plant more than 30 miles of hedgerow which can support wildlife and ecology, absorb CO2 and provide a source of pollen for invertebrates, as well as protecting against soil erosion and protecting crops from extreme weather.
To assist with the project, funding has come from three main sources this year – the States of Jersey Environment fund via the Countryside Enhancement Scheme, the Roy Overland Charitable Trust and £12,000 of sponsorship raised from members of the public through the Hedge Fund scheme. The trust’s marketing and events manager, Donna Le Marrec, described such sponsorship as ‘a fantastic way to both support the work of the National Trust to protect wildlife and our beautiful natural spaces and is an ideal Christmas gift’.
Gifts of hedgerow at £5 per metre can be purchased from the trust by ringing 483193 or by calling in at 16 New Street during late-night shopping on a Thursday from 19 November, and on Saturdays in November.
