Harborough Woodland’s army of volunteers have been praised for planting thousands of trees

A Harborough conservation group dedicated to planting many more trees has been saluted by the Royal Horticultural Society and East Midlands in Bloom.

Harborough Woodland, which has grown to boast over 400 members, was assessed by experts in September.

And as a result the eco campaigners were placed in the ‘advancing’ category of the Royal Horticultural Society’s It’s Your Neighbourhood Awards - where community participation is rated especially strongly.

Harborough Woodland’s army of volunteers have already planted over 4,500 trees in 21 projects across the district.

They are determined to improve the region’s extremely sparse tree cover - which is the second lowest in the entire country.

Trees act as the lungs of the earth as they combat devastating climate change and global warming by sucking dangerous carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

“Our ambition to plant over 10,000 free trees this winter continues at pace, with young trees earmarked to be planted at community facilities, private woodland and three Market Harborough schools,” said Harborough Woodland.

“We have also initiated three large area natural flood management schemes so far to reduce flooding.

“And we are working closely with our partners in the Welland Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency to identify new opportunities in the upper Welland catchment.

“The It’s Your Neighbourhood Awards showcases the inspiring work undertaken by community groups to improve their local area, focusing on community participation, environmental responsibility and gardening achievement.”

If you would like to get involved and help Harborough Woodland plant more trees to give us all a better future you can check out the group at https://harboroughwoodland.com/ or email [email protected]