Pupils at Harrogate’s Ashville College have planted hundreds of trees in an effort to boost biodiversity on campus.
In partnership with the Woodlands Trust, pupils under the supervision of the independent school’s grounds team added 420 native British trees to the site.
The trees included a mixture of hazel, blackthorn, crab apple, dog rose and rowan and created a hedge running adjacent to one of its sports pitches and a public footpath.
Annual tree-plantings are among many initiatives led by the College’s dedicated Green Committee, which works hard to encourage pupils to think about how their actions can either harm or benefit the environment.
In the last two weeks of term, the Green Committee also ran a Fairtrade stall in the College’s Pre-Prep, Prep, and Senior Schools, where pupils were the vendors.
Cathy Price, Ashville College Green Committee lead, said:
“The latest round of tree planting and the Fairtrade stall have come at the end of an extremely busy term for Green Committee members.
“Climate change and the environment have been on everyone’s radar, and this is going to continue. By making even small changes to our daily routines, collectively we make a big difference to the environment in which we live, work and go to school.”
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The trees planted are in addition to 500 native trees that were planted last November to enhance existing hedges or establish new ones to the southwest edge of the 64-acre campus.
The Woodland Trust has provided all the trees as part of its Big Climate Fightback campaign, which has so far seen more than 1.8 million trees planted by schools, community groups and businesses around the UK.
As the saplings grow, they will provide a habitat and movement corridors for wildlife and produce pollen, nectar, nuts, fruit and berries for insects, birds and small mammals.
