Havant school pupils involved in new campaign to encourage children to collect seeds and plant trees

Pupils from St Alban's join Cllr Russell Oppenheimer, back row second right, alongside a representative from The Tree Council, former St Alban's pupil Annie, to the left of Cllr Oppenheimer as you look at the photo, and the Hampshire Forest Partnership

Green-fingered pupils from a Havant school have given the thumbs up to a new campaign to encourage children to collect seeds and plant trees.

Children from St Alban’s Church of England Primary launched the Young Tree Growers Guide, which has been produced by The Tree Council in conjunction with the County Council’s Hampshire Forest Partnership.

The guide will be available nationwide, and help younger people to support Hampshire’s tree planting targets.

HCC’s Cabinet Member for Countryside, Cllr Russell Oppenheimer, said: “Hampshire has an ambitious goal to plant one million trees by 2050, and we want to get everyone involved.

"We’ve joined forces with The Tree Council to create a fun and informative guide that we hope will inspire children, with the help of teachers and parents, to learn more about how to grow trees straight from seeds, as well as the enormous environmental benefits that trees offer.

"It also gives advice on how and where to plant your fledging tree, so planting takes place in the right place, at the right time.

"The guide is available for everyone in Hampshire and beyond to download for free including schools, volunteer groups, and community organisations.

"I’d like to thank the amazing children at St Alban’s Primary School for helping us to launch this exciting new project.”

St Alban’s Primary is a ‘Young Tree Champions School’, part of The Tree Council’s national network of schools that deliver nature-based projects in their communities.

The Tree Council CEO, Sara Lom, explained: “The Tree Council is delighted to have joined forces with Hampshire County Council to create the Young Tree Growers Guide, a year on from publication of The Tree Growers’ Guide.

"We know from our Young Tree Champions programme how much children love to engage with nature, and feel part of its wonder.

"We hope this new resource will give them all the skills they need to experience the magic and joy of collecting seeds, and growing the next generation of life-enhancing trees, shrubs and hedgerows.”

Analysis conducted on behalf of Friends of the Earth by mapping experts Terra Sulis showed 17.2% of the Havant local authority area is covered by trees.

That is higher than the English average, where tree canopy cover stands at just 12.8%, of which only 10% can be attributed to woodland.

Across the European Union, woodland cover rises to 38%.

The Government's current goal is to increase tree coverage to 16.5% by 2050.

Meanwhile, 43% of neighbourhoods in England have less than 10% tree cover, while 84% have less than 20% coverage.

The figure is just 8.1% in the Portsmouth local authority area.

Surrey Heath has the most tree coverage at 36.1%, while South Holland in Lincolnshire has the least with just 2.2%.