Final 1,000 trees planted in one of Jersey's biggest ever reforesting projects

Picture: TONY PIKE. (32606504)

THE largest tree-planting project ever conducted by the National Trust for Jersey and charity Trees for Life has been completed.

A total of 4,300 trees have been planted in Mourier Valley since the reforestation project was launched there in 2019.

Now a final 4.2 hectares at the bottom of the valley have been covered with the last 1,000 trees. They include 13 mainly native species, including common oak, ash, sweet chestnut, hazel, wild cherry, bird cherry, silver birch, larch and sallow, selected to suit the exposed conditions.

Others, such as rowan, Scots pine, Monterey pine and black pine, were chosen to support birds and other wildlife.

All the trees will soak up carbon and help Jersey reach its target of attaining net-zero emissions by 2050.

The planting scheme was paid for with £40,000 in joint funding from Jersey Electricity and Jersey Water, as well receiving support from hundreds of individual volunteers, charities and other organisations.

Charles Alluto, chief executive of the National Trust for Jersey, said: ‘Unfortunately woodland cover is sparse in Jersey. In 2010, tree cover was estimated at 7%, compared with 12% in the UK and 28% in France.

‘Many trees were felled during the Occupation and, when combined with the impact of Dutch Elm diseases and the Great Storm, this has led to a sparsity of mature woodland cover in the Island, which in turn has an impact upon our biodiversity.’

Earlier this year, a warning was issued to mountain bikers after it was reported that a group of young adults were damaging the trees in the valley and using the land as a bike track.

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