CONSERVATIONISTS are hoping to create England's biggest native woodland by planting 100,000 trees in the Yorkshire Dales.
Snaizeholme, near the town of Hawes, was covered in woodland centuries ago but the 561-hectare valley is now almost barren (贫瘠的). Across the Yorkshire Dales, total tree cover amounts to just five per cent, the Woodland Trust has said, with ancient woodland making up just one per cent of that cover.
The trust wants to raise £8 million for a decades-long program that will see a restored forest providing habitats for threatened species such as woodland birds and black grouse. Planted trees will be mostly native broadleaved species such as alder, silver birch, down y birch, willow, aspen, rowan, hawthorn and blackthorn, with montane species on the higher slopes.
Al Nash, who is heading the project for the Woodland Trust, said, "I love the Dales but the one thing it lacks in many areas is an abundance (丰富性) of trees. Here we will be giving nature and biodiversity a big boost and creating a rich variety of habitats. It is a rare opportunity to create a sizeable wildlife conservation area for the north of England. It's clearly a wonderful opportunity to create something real that can be seen and touched in the Yorkshire Dales for the fight against climate change."
The first stage of planting has already begun with funding from the White Rose Forest, DEFRA and corporate donors. More trees than needed will be planted as not all will survive in the windswept, rainy upland valley. They will be arranged at random and without plastic guards to help stimulate natural forest growth, the trust said.
