Project Dates: 15.04.24 to 15.04.25

Supporting this exemplary community tree nursery for a second year to enable them to sow, grow, and plant more local provenance tree species – aiming to increase the quantity, quality, and diversity of native trees planted in Dartmoor and South Devon.

Following the success of Moor Trees’ work last year, this year’s grant will help them to continue to enhance Dartmoor’s ecosystem – working alongside organisations such as Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest, Dartmoor National Park, the Duchy of Cornwall, and others to directly address historic deforestation of Dartmoor by propagating and planting locally-sourced trees.

This year Moor Trees will prioritise the Wayfaring Tree, Devon Whitebeam, Wild Service Tree, and Small-leaved Lime species that play a crucial role in woodland health – providing vital habitat, food, and shelter for diverse wildlife. Their scarcity threatens future regeneration, thereby diminishing woodland resilience.

Project deliverables include:

• Planting at least 10 species per planting scheme, while engaging communities in each stage from seed collection to woodland creation
• Cultivating 7,000 trees (from 63,000 to 70,000 saplings)
• Optimising Moor Trees’ specialist expertise, and building on their knowledge and success in stratification and cultivation of diverse native broadleaved tree species.

Image credits: Moor Trees

IMPACT SUMMARY NOVEMBER 2024

• In 2023 summer stocktake prior to DEF funding, the project recorded 63,000 trees thriving in their nurseries.
• 18,000 trees were planted out in the winter of 2023/24.
• In 2023/2024 the project collected an exceptional number of seeds, with 653,266 seeds being collected and processed.
• As a result, the project’s 2024 summer stocktake revealed a significant increase, with nearly 90,000 trees in the nurseries!
• Increased volunteer activities, with regular volunteer days for local communities at the project’s nurseries.
• A successful citizen science project was undertaken over the summer of 2024, engaging 21 participants for a total of 185 hours.
• The project hosted 11 seed collecting sessions, engaging 81 people for a total of 474 hours.
• 42 tree planting days over the 2024 season were carried out.