In Britain, we have one of the most crowded, modified landscapes in the world. Pressure on land continues to damage and fragment the habitats of our native trees and wildflowers. The creation of Tarvin Community Woodland is a long-term environmental scheme aimed at providing an area where native flora and fauna can flourish.
The news these days is filled with information about the warming of the Earth's atmosphere and the highly undesirable consequences that could follow, especially the rise in sea levels. Recently published information suggests that this rise could reach a dangerous point, as the rate of sea level rise is accelerating. Even at the most conservative estimate, sea levels are predicted to be more than a foot higher by the year 2100. If the rate of warming is greater than expected, the rise could exceed a metre. As a result, eight of the world's ten largest cities will face much greater risks from storm surges and flooding, and some island nations may be at risk of losing their very existence.
It is believed that human-produced greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, are responsible for much of the observed increase in Earth's temperatures over the past 50-plus years. Research into techniques for reducing these emissions and removing them from the atmosphere is ongoing. Of all the methods to remove carbon dioxide from the air, nature provides one of the best solutions: photosynthesis. Green plants use light energy to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar (their food and the raw material for all other chemicals in plants) and oxygen (which we breathe). The larger the plants, the greater their effect, and trees in particular play a crucial role in helping to store carbon dioxide emissions.
According to the Woodland Trust, a young wood with mixed native species of trees, like ours, can store more than 400 tonnes of carbon per hectare in its trees, roots, and soil. Our woodland is quite small--currently covering a little more than 6 hectares--but even so, it is helping to store an impressive 2,400 tonnes of carbon! The average person in the UK is responsible for at least five and a half tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, and it's clear that our woodland is playing an important role in offsetting these emissions. Trees and hedgerows alongside roads, in gardens, and in fields also contribute, in a smaller but still significant way.
Our woodland trees offer additional benefits. Not only do they store carbon, but they also help to reduce noise and air pollution from the busy A51 Tarvin By-pass. When you consider the health benefits to the village community from being able to take woodland walks within the village itself, it's clear that the value of Tarvin Community Woodland is immense! Since our trees play such an important role, we must look after and protect them, and the Tarvin Community Woodland Trust is committed to doing just that.