“Trees need a tremendous amount of water – and if you plant thirsty trees in boggy areas which are notorious for flooding you can purposefully slow the flow of water to protect habitats and housing downstream – and create the right sort of environment that animals such as many insects, birds and bats love,” adds David.
The trees are currently a foot tall and should be well established in 3-5 years, when we can look at reintroducing some grazing.
Elsewhere, where we can’t remove grazing animals, we’re going to plant some taller trees that will be resilient to the presence of sheep and cows.
To ensure a supply of local trees, a local tree nursery has been set up where the taller trees are being grown.
David concluded: “Trees of local provenance are very difficult to get hold of, and we are taking extreme care not to import new diseases like ash dieback.
“Our hope is that we can grow and supply all our sites across North Wales that are embarking on tree planting projects over the next few years.
“Our ambition is to eventually grow 20,000 trees a year on National Trust land. This year, we should have around a 1,000 trees to kick things off.”
The tree planting at Hafod Garegog is part of our commitment to plant and establish 20 million trees across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by 2030 to help tackle climate change and create new homes for nature.
