Trees for Cities – Alastair Humphreys

For several years, I’ve enjoyed participating in Trees for Cities’ community planting days. A couple of hundred people gathered this Saturday on a nondescript bit of urban parkland. We were there to help restore a fragment of the Great North Wood. It had stood here for centuries before being nibbled away, tree by tree, for ships, for charcoal, for grazing (those pesky Shifting Baselines again), until all today’s eager leader had to show us of the Great North Wood was a few grand oaks lining the road by the park.

Armed with spades, wheelbarrows, and piles of baby trees, we got to work. It warmed my heart to share this day with so many other tree lovers, or just good people from the local community lending a hand (and perhaps even a few canny opportunists who’d spotted the blackboard on the pavement announcing, ‘Tree Planting, Come and Join, Free Lunch!’)

And I shouldn’t play down the appeal of that free lunch because the traditional giant vat of delicious curry has definitely been part of the appeal of these days for me! This year, as a bit of a bonus, a steel drum band also accompanied our tree planting efforts with hours of cheerful tunes.

As everyone worked together to plant 3700 trees, haul tons of mulch in wheelbarrows, and help make a difference to this park, it really felt as though we were coming together to contribute to something good. They say that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. That is true, but the second best time is definitely today. It felt great.

I want to urge you not only to plant a tree whenever you get the chance, but also to seek out opportunities for community. It is a fantastic antidote to isolation and hopelessness in the battle to save nature.

I have found this not just in tree planting, but also coming together at rallies like the Restore Nature march, the People’s Walk for Wildlife (when I first started banging on about baselines) or the Right to Roam court case. Lending an individual voice to a larger voice shows the world that more and more people do believe all this stuff is both urgent and important. It feels so much more effective than shouting in frustration alone.

Here is your homework for today. Write it down so you don’t forget, and risk a whack of the cane the next time we meet!

1. First of all, to try not to be irate about your friends and family in the way that I sometimes am. Sanctimonius resentment is not going to help anything.
2. Secondly, plant a tree, whenever and wherever you get the chance.
3. And thirdly, join a community group like Trees for Cities, Citizen Zoo, Trash Free Trails, Two Minute Beach Clean, Good Gym, the Ramblers, and many, many more. You won’t regret it.