THE first 700 of nearly 1,000 new trees have been planted in St Clement, as part of a new scheme designed to help the Island achieve carbon neutrality within eight years.
Around 40 volunteers – including parishioners, honorary police officers and Jersey Electricity employees – took part in the planting on Saturday.
The trees were planted in a dedicated plot in a large meadow behind St Clement’s Church, as part of the Parish Earth Partnership, a joint project between Jersey Electricity and the 12 parishes.
The aim is to find suitable land in each parish where a small area of densely planted trees, plants and shrubs can be established, which will help to support a diverse range of wildlife and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. The company has provided £5,000 to each parish to fund the planting.
St Clement is the first parish to take part.
Its late Constable, Len Norman, was instrumental in bringing the project to his parish by identifying the meadow above the churchyard which was no longer viable for growing potatoes.
A larger woodland is also being planted in St Clement, and the parish is offering trees for residents to sponsor in memory of loved ones and, so far, it has sponsors for 50 trees.
Chris Ambler, chief executive of Jersey Electricity, said: ‘The initial idea behind the Parish Earth Partnership was to rally the community and effect lasting improvements to Jersey’s environment by increasing biodiversity and, over the longer term, aiding carbon sequestration.
‘We believe local sequestration is of greater benefit to our island than international carbon offsets, as the investment remains within the local community.’
St Clement Procureur du Bien Public Geoff Pirouet added: ‘Our late Constable left our parish with a great sense of environmental responsibility in all that we do, and this micro-forest and surrounding sponsored woodland is a tribute to him.
‘We may be the smallest parish in our island by land size but in this we, like the trees we are planting, will stand tall for decades to come.’
St Peter, St Lawrence, St Helier, St Saviour and St John have also identified plots for trees and are awaiting planning permission.
