National Tree Week sees TV’s Frances Tophill celebrating Sharpham success story
By Jill Dando News
BBC TV gardener Frances Tophill helped to mark National Tree Week (23 November - 3 December) and celebrated a new plan that will see more trees across the land in the River Dart valley in South Devon.
The co-presenter of the much-loved programme Gardeners’ World came to The Sharpham Estate near Totnes to plant an oak tree sapling during the UK’s biggest annual tree celebration - marking the start of the winter tree-planting season.
Frances’s tree - grown from a Sharpham Estate acorn - was one of 5875 new trees being planted for a project called Wild About Trees, taking place on the Sharpham Estate: beautiful riverside parkland that sits within one of Britain’s National Landscapes.
Wild About Trees is supported by the Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest, a partnership project, funded through the ‘Trees for Climate’ fund as part of the Department for Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs (Defra) ‘Nature for Climate’ fund.
We’re Tree-Wilding
Wild About Trees is a partnership between The Sharpham Trust, the renowned nature-mindfulness charity, and Ambios, a nature conservation training organisation based on The Sharpham Estate.
The Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest is planting trees across South Devon & Dartmoor to create a woodland network that benefits wildlife and connects people with nature and its benefits of improved health and wellbeing.
Said Frances: “Trees are the backbone of our ecosystems. They provide shelter, food, house our wildlife, give us shade in the summer and warmth in the winter. They store carbon and secure the soil and rocks beneath our feet.
“As a lover of woodland and the natural landscape I have long been an advocate of trees and worked with them - restoring woodlands, propagating them and simply planting trees wherever I can. I’m so pleased to be supporting the Community Forest at Sharpham.”
Julian Carnell, Director of The Sharpham Trust said:
“It’s great to see so many trees being planted at Sharpham and particularly involving young people in the project. The UK is one of the least-forested countries in Europe and planting trees is one of the best ways we can help in the battle against climate change and support our local wildlife.”
Jack Skuse, Director of Ambios said:
“Planting trees brings everyone together with a shared mission to create space for wildlife now and into the future. Adding trees to this landscape will help many different wildlife species to return while at the same time helping to store carbon. Through projects like this we help to counter the climate emergency and the loss of wildlife, both of which we need to tackle to secure all our futures.
Sharpham’s going wilder
For more than 40 years, The Sharpham Trust has been conserving and caring for The Sharpham Estate and inviting people to mindfully connect with nature.
Its ongoing partnership with Ambios, who are training future ecologists and wildlife professionals, has boosted biodiversity and helped to restore nature on its riverside land.
The two organisations have worked together since 2020 on a National Lottery-funded project which has seen:
- conventional farmland converted to certified organic land
- the arrival of birds new to Sharpham, including the Greater Whitethroat and Pied Wagtails
- increased numbers of small mammals, insects and invertebrates like Great Green Bush Crickets
- boosted birds feeding on those insects, including Swifts, Swallows & Housemartins
- flocks of 500+ Goldfinches
- recent sightings of Ospreys - fish-eating birds of prey not seen at Sharpham for years
The Wild About Trees project at Sharpham will also include nature-events for the public and for local schoolchildren and funded retreats where people stay at Sharpham and experience the land.
