Woodland Trust, the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, has announced the first of their 70-acre Platinum Jubilee Woods at Burghley House.
The 16th-century Elizabethan mansion is located in Stamford, Lincolnshire, in the northeast part of the country. It was built between 1555 and 1587 by William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I. Burghley’s latest woodland will add to the 60-acre Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Wood created with the Woodland Trust in 2012. For the Diamond Jubilee, The Princess Royal planted the first sapling. While it is unknown who will plant the first sapling for the Platinum Jubilee, the estate’s wood will bring in a range of benefits to boost biodiversity and increase the resilience of the landscape.
Peter Glassey, Burghley Estate Head Forester, is excited to repeat the successful collaboration with the Woodland Trust: “I love planting trees, and The Queen’s Green Canopy is a wonderful vehicle to provide a lasting legacy of Her Majesty’s reign.
“But it is also a recognition of the importance trees and woodlands play in trying to address many of the issues affecting the UK and the world. We wish to plant more woodland to help mitigate the loss of our existing woods and plant with a more resilient species mix which will grow and fill the landscape for the next 200 years.”
The Queen’s Green Canopy is a unique tree-planting initiative that invites people from across the nation to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee.’ Throughout the Jubilee, 70 woods will be established to honour The Queen and to help fight the climate and nature crisis. The QGC is encouraging everyone to play a part in enhancing the environment by planting trees until the end of the official planting season at the end of March. The campaign planting season will then resume in October and go through the end of the Jubilee year.
Schools and community groups are able to apply for up to three million free saplings in tree packs through the Free Trees for Schools and Communities scheme. If you’re interested in getting involved with the Woodland Trust’s Platinum Jubilee Woods initiative, you can email them at QGCWoods@woodlandtrust.org.uk.
