The new ‘mini woodlands’ along the Mutton Brook in East Finchley were laid out in just one day by willing hands coming forward to help.
They included pupils aged four to 14 from Brookland Infant and Nursery School, Kerem Primary, Moss Hall Nursery, Brooklands Junior and Henrietta Barnett secondary.
Even Mayor of Barnet Cllr Tony Vourou joined in and rolled up his sleeves, along with Dame Dawn Childs from Pure Data Centres environment organisation and Barnet Council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change Cllr Alan Schneiderman.
“We are providing valuable green spaces and improving Barnet’s biodiversity,” Cllr Schneiderman explained. “Everyone has turned up to help make Barnet a greener and more sustainable place.”
Each ‘tiny forest’ has around 600 trees in an area the size of a tennis court, providing nature-rich spaces that are being connected by path to an existing woodland and urban wildflower meadow.
They will become a dense ‘oasis’ for nature, each attracting 500 animal and plant species within the first three years, while also being used as a ‘living laboratory’ to work out techniques for faster tree growth.
Each ‘mini forest’ uses a slightly different planting system to improve knowledge about soil condition, drainage and how they can absorb carbon emissions.
The Mutton Brook already has a ‘tiny forest’ and wildflower meadow. The new plantings, co-ordinated by Earthwatch environmental charity, are being linked with pathways along the brook.
Earthwatch programme manager Hannah Davidson said: “Planting these tiny forests adds to the growing number of ‘nature in cities’ projects across north London, creating a greener, healthier urban environment and giving people access to nature.”
The organisation helps people take action to protect the natural world around them, motivating them into action to “fight for the planet”.
The ecological benefits of these mini woodlands along the Mutton Brook are better air quality and improving urban biodiversity.
No chemicals or fertilisers were used for planting. A modified charcoal called ‘biochar’ that improves soil quality was used instead, with saplings that came from a ‘forest factory’ project at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
