30 March 2023

Volunteers plant over 400 trees to enhance biodiversity for woodland

We partnered with The Tamar Trust and Tamar Valley AONB to plant trees to benefit the environment in Cornwall.
Wacker Quay

Volunteers plant a range of trees and build on a natural habitat to support wildlife in Cornwall.

We worked alongside The Tamar Trust and Tamar Valley AONB at Wacker Quay, near Antony, Torpoint to plant trees to improve the area. 

There were 420 trees planted to form part of a new hedge to prevent fly tipping into the woodland around the quay and provide shelter and berries for birds. 

There were over 10 LiveWest colleague volunteers for the project with the Woodland Trust providing all the trees. Phil Harwin, Conservation and Volunteer Officer for the site, The Tamar Trust, wanted to thank Community Connector, Alison, and the LiveWest team for connecting on this partnership project which will help make a difference to the local area. 

Alison Knight, our Community Connector, said: “I was delighted to be working at Wacker Quay, which is a beautiful location with our local partners and amazing staff volunteers. It’s a great chance to reconnect with the natural world and is very satisfying to see the difference that we can make.

“Thanks to our colleagues who came out to plant so many trees at Wacker Quay near Torpoint. LiveWest offers staff volunteering days every year to help benefit people and projects in the local community and this was in partnership with The Tamar Trust and Tamar Valley AONB. It is a great opportunity to get involved in an environmental project that benefits local communities as well as providing a health and wellbeing boost for everyone.” 

Wacker Quay

Volunteers really enjoyed the planting and gave some feedback of the benefits of doing something physical that helped people connect to nature and the positive of doing something as rewarding as planting trees to help the environment.

Other Tamar Valley AONB site activities will be taking place which include a Use of Tools talk from Phil Harwin and he will be joined by the Community and Volunteer supervisor with the Tamar Community Trust (TCT) who has managed the site along with the Wacker to Antony trail for over 10 years with the help of the local community.  

Jane Hart, Project Officer with the Tamar Valley AONB team said: “We really enjoyed supporting the LiveWest team of volunteers to have a rewarding day out planting a new hedgerow at Wacker Quay.  The tree mix has been chosen to provide a good source of nectar for pollinators in early spring along with fruit and berries for birds in autumn, enhancing the biodiversity of the site by offering additional foraging and habitat for local wildlife.  

“Additionally, as the hedgerow grows it will help shield the beauty spot of Wacker Quay from traffic noise and deter litter from being left in the estuarine woodland.  This is part of a wider improvement scheme for the site, proudly funded by the Tamar Valley AONB.”