Pictured (L-R) are Emma Cobb, Amelie, Laura Martin, Henri Toutounji, Yelena Shliomenzon, Antonio Willybiro and Olessia Willybiro
Hundreds of new trees are putting down roots this winter as part of a Fulham school’s ambitious project to help improve local green spaces.
Parents and pupils from Queen’s Manor Primary School in Lysia Street are planting more than 600 tree saplings as part of their winter greening scheme.
With saplings donated by the Woodland Trust and support from Hammersmith & Fulham Council, families from the school’s Friends of Queen’s Manor group (FoQM) are planting the new trees in three locations.
A batch of 105 native hazel, blackthorn, crab apple, elder, dog rose, and rowan tree saplings have already been planted in Fulham Palace Road alongside Lillie Road Rec during a gardening session last week. And the green-fingered volunteers are set to plant hundreds more of the fruit and nut-bearing trees in the coming weeks.
A total of 420 native saplings will be planted inFulham’s Hurlingham Park on Sunday (12 December), with another 105 of the young trees due for planting inside Lillie Road recreation ground in the new year.
Inspire
Organising the project, FoQM committee member Olessia Willybiro said the aim was to ‘inspire more people to do the right thing for the climate’.
“My idea is to look back in 10 years’ time and have planted trees in the local area every year,” added Olessia, a governor at the school in Lysia Street.
Originally inspired by the 2019 Global Climate Strikes, the aim was to find a practical project for Queen’s Manor pupils to learn how to help the environment.
FoQM first applied to the Woodland Trust for a free tree pack containing a mixture of native saplings in the spring, as part of H&F Council’s ambitious efforts to meet its 2030 carbon net-zero target after declaring a climate emergency in 2019.
The volunteers successfully planted those trees in May but were determined to keep up the green momentum.
A further three applications to the Woodland Trust for the free trees were all successful, meaning the planting project could go full steam ahead.
Coming soon
Queen’s Manor pupils in Years 3-6 will help with planting trees during the January session near Lillie Road Rec.
“It has definitely sparked discussions in the school and will do even more when they actively start preparing for the planting and using classroom discussion materials from the Woodland Trust,” explained Olessia, whose children Adabella, 10, and Lara, six, have also been involved in the environmental initiative.
The school has been working closely with H&F Council’s environment department and landscape contractors to plan the planting schemes and prepare the ground ready for the saplings to be dug in.
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