Let’s celebrate National Tree Week 2019!
National Tree Week is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration beginning the start of the winter tree planting season.
We are from a woodland culture!
What is a tree?
An oxygen maker,
A flood abater, a carbon absorber,
A climate recorder, a healthy aspect, a place to reflect,
A nest for an owl, where gruffalos growl, a climbing frame,
The fuel for a flame, a soil stabiliser, a picnic sun-visor, a provider of fruit,
Winter quarters for newts, the pages of tome, the heart of a home,
A pollutant filter, a neighbourhood gilder, a treatment for liver,
A stress reliever, an artist’s spark, an ancient landmark,
A noise muffler, a blue tit’s supper’s supper,
A temperature reducer,
A primary producer,
A wind breaker,
A wood maker,
A natural sculpture,
just outside the front door.
Between 10,000 and 4,500 BC our climate stabilised and wildwoods developed. Tree species like birch, aspen, pine, hazel, oak, lime, holly and beech began to make up these wildwoods. Around 5,500 BC Britain became an island and the wildwoods would probably have been a mixture of scrub-land grassland and tree groves rather than a continuous wood from John O Groats to Land’s end.
By the First World War, 90% of our timber was imported and the Forestry Commission was set up in 1919 to protect and grow our own timber. Many mixed woodland were destroyed often using herbicides to clear areas for conifer planting. And here we are, nearly in 2020 and we are gradually rediscovering the value of trees and woodland.
Circle of Life Rediscovery welcomes all our groups to a stunning 10 acre of beautiful mixed broad-leafed woodland known as Mill Woods. It is near Laughton Village, located 10 miles from Lewes in East Sussex. This land is part of the newly formed 171 acres of Vert Woods Community Woodland (VWCW).
All CLR work at our site prioritises care for the woodland, with the aim to increase biodiversity. We work closely with a wide range of nature enthusiasts to manage and support a long-term woodland plan that enables these woods to thrive whilst providing quality nature connection opportunities for all ages. We are committed to providing access to nature for people from all backgrounds.
We have taken careful steps to build structures that sit naturally within the landscape. A beautiful and simple canvas shelter, enables up to 30 people to remain dry in some of our wetter days!
We have created a simple clean and sustainable compost toilet, and we have constructed a disability-friendly toilet for our Flagship ‘The Woodland Project‘.
All water is either brought onto site, or gathered using permaculture principles.
Forest Bathing
This year we are introducing our seasonal ‘Forest Bathing days’.
A growing body of scientific research is affirming what we’ve always felt, being among trees is good for us. From the way they clean the air of pollutants and pump it with fresh oxygen to the immune-boosting phytoncides they release, we boost our well-being simply by breathing in their presence.
Forest Bathing invites us to be in relation to our surroundings with all of our senses – when we are sensing, we are in the present – and trees provide engaging stimulation for our senses, be it the sound of wind through the trees (one of the top 3 soothing sounds), their beauty, the varied textures of their barks and leaves.
The practice of Forest Bathing not only provides us with a pleasurable health-boosting experience but also deepens our knowing and appreciation of these incredible tree-beings so crucial to the health of our planet and all its inhabitants.
Support Trees for Life for National Tree Week!
Circle of Life Rediscovery has started to ‘Plant a Grove’ to help offset some of our trainings abroad.
Trees for Life’s vision is of a revitalised wild forest in the Highlands of Scotland, providing space for wildlife to flourish and communities to thrive. If you would like to contribute to this please follow this link.
Transforming education, health and family through nature.
We provide exciting and highly beneficial nature-centred learning and therapeutic experiences for young people, adults, and families in Sussex woodlands, along with innovative continuing professional development for the health, well being and teaching professionals who are supporting them.
Other organisations:
https://www.9trees.org/: Planting trees is one of the best ways to draw CO2 out of the atmosphere and lock away carbon. Trees take time to reach their full potential and we only have 12 years to fundamentally change our carbon footprint before irreversible damage is done.
https://treesisters.org/: Tree Sisters is a global network of women who donate monthly to fund the restoration of our tropical forests as a collective expression of planetary care.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/: A National organisation set up to care for our
woodlands and plant millions of trees!