8,000 more trees to be planted near Helston

Planting of 8,000 more trees is taking place at Penrose starting from January (Image: National Trust) The National Trust is looking for volunteers to help plant the first of 8,000 more trees on the Penrose estate near Helston. The charity is hoping to find willing helpers to join the Penrose Rangers and volunteers at a series of winter woodland planting events, taking place on several dates during January.

The National Trust plans to increase woodland cover at Penrose by 10%, enlarging the total woodland to over 110 hectares. This will involve planting broadleaf trees such as field maple and small-leaved lime to connect two large blocks of existing woodland - expanding the area for nature and wildlife on the estate. Gregory Cross, lead ranger at Penrose, said: "Planting trees is for everyone's benefit; not only does it enrich our lives to spend time immersed in nature, but trees improve biodiversity and create invaluable habitats for wildlife from varied ground flora and insects all the way up the food chain to birds and bats.

"Tree planting is also one of the simplest ways we can tackle climate change as it reduces existing atmospheric carbon that contributes towards this issue." The scheme at Penrose will cost GBP60,000 and has been fully funded by the England Woodland Creation Offer, provided by the Forestry Commission. He added: "We have worked closely with Helston Climate Action Group to bring these plans to life.

"The goal of this project is for every tree to be planted by volunteers from the local community and we're excited that local schools will be planting trees with us throughout December, so we can involve and engage the next generation with their local woodland. "We want people to feel connected to the places they love and to help us continue looking after this special place for future generations to enjoy, so we're keen to have anybody local to Helston and Penrose to join us on our public tree planting events starting in January." Of the 250,000 hectares of land the National Trust cares for, 10% is woodland.

The National Trust has made a commitment to increase this to 17% in the next ten years, meaning 20 million trees will be planted over the next decade.

Anyone who would like to help plant trees at Penrose needs to book a place via the Penrose webpage nationaltrust.org.uk/penrose.

Booking is essential.