Home

To mark the 10th anniversary of the White Rose Forest on Sunday, August 1, a ‘Trees For Yorkshire’ campaign is being launched with a walk at Yorkshire Water's Scammonden reservoir site, near Huddersfield.

The site at Scammonden is the first site to be planted with ‘Trees for Yorkshire’, and invited guests - all of whom have pledged trees - will be taking part in a 90-minute 'talk and walk’ event around the site, starting out from the Woodedge car park at the Dam end of Sledge Gate at 10am. Members of the public are welcome to join the walk.

The ‘Trees for Yorkshire’ scheme is open to everyone. For a donation of £10, individuals, groups or businesses can have a tree planted at an approved White Rose Forest site - and at the same time contribute to the work of the partnership of local authorities, public and voluntary organisations which works to protect, extend and manage West Yorkshire’s woodlands.

The package includes a personalised certificate of donation with a map of the site of the tree, a photograph of the planted area and an invite to attend a ‘talk and walk’ event at the site. Hopes are that the scheme will appeal to both business and people looking to sponsor the long term improvement of the Yorkshire environment either as a personal gift for a special occasion or as a way to demonstrate an organisation’s contribution to combating the impact of climate change.

At Scammonden reservoir, by the side of the M62, a new 7-hectare woodland is planned to add to the 9-hectares already planted since 2000. As the ‘Trees for Yorkshire’ project expands, more sites across the Leeds city region will be added, giving people more opportunity to sponsor a tree in their locality and to get involved with their sponsored sites.

Geoff Lomas, Yorkshire Water's recreation and catchment manager commented: "We're delighted to support what is a fantastic initiative and look forward to expanding on this project and hopefully introducing it to many more of our recreational sites across the region.

"Scammonden is one of our most diverse sites, boasting stunning moorland and forest and hopefully this initiative will not only enhance biodiversity at the site, but also encourage more people to visit and take advantage of the stunning walks and scenery it boasts."

White Rose Forest Project Manager Guy Thompson, who will be leading the Yorkshire Day walk, added: “As well as making the landscape even more beautiful, the ‘Trees for Yorkshire’ project will help to create new wildlife habitats for the long term and greater recreational opportunities, at the same time providing a sustainable local source of renewable energy.”

Further information about ‘Trees for Yorkshire’ and the work of the White Rose Forest Partnership is available at http://www.whiteroseforest.org.uk<http://www.whiteroseforest.org.uk>”