Primary students plant trees in South Pennines project

Young environmentalists joined forces with the National Trust and Yorkshire Water to support the latest phase of tree planting as part of the Landscapes for Water project – a five-year partnership project that will see 300,000 trees planted across 350 hectares in the South Pennines. 

Landscapes for Water is a joint programme between the National Trust and Yorkshire Water that aims to restore landscapes across the two organisations’ landholdings in the South Pennines, specifically in the Upper Calder and Colne catchments.

126 children and 25 adults from St Johns Primary, Barkisland Primary and Triangle Primary near Ripponden enthusiastically participated in planting over 500 trees on land near Ryburn reservoir over three days
National Trust Volunteer and Community Officer, Adam, said “We loved welcoming the schools to help us plant trees last week. Every tree they have planted helps to contribute towards our fight against climate change and flooding.”

Hazel Earnshaw, lead countryside and woodland advisor at Yorkshire Water, added: “It was fantastic to see how much the children enjoyed the planting and creating a woodland. They can all be proud to have had a positive impact on the local area.”

The 500 trees planted by the schools will form part of a woodland of over 26,000 trees around Ryburn, which have been planted over the course of two years.

In addition to tree planting across five sites, the £7m Landscapes for Water project will see the installation of 3,500 leaky dams, and moorland restoration through sphagnum moss planting. The programme is supported by the White Rose Forest (through ‘Trees For Climate’, funded by Defra’s Nature for Climate Fund); Woodland Trust, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Environment Agency and Calderdale Council.

If you are interested in future planting and community days, please email L4W@nationaltrust.org.uk