Reducing carbon emissions

Solarsense sign the Forest of Avon Trust Pledge

Solarsense has just signed up to the Forest of Avon Trust Pledge. This is a simple way for any organisation to show and increase their support for the Forest of Avon, one of England’s Community Forests, encompassing our trees and woodlands in and around Bristol, Bath and the West of England.

The Forest of Avon Trust doesn’t claim to be able to cure the immense and complex challenges of our climate emergency, however, each tree that is planted is a step in the right direction. It is a well-known fact that trees are one of the best and most accessible carbon capture options available to us right now.

Trees also give us a better quality of life through absorbing air pollutants, providing shade and cooling, absorbing our water and reducing flood risk, providing a home for beneficial wildlife and providing us with a huge benefit to our overall mood and health.

There are many economic reasons as to why having more trees will be beneficial to all of us, now and in the future. Our community involvement in the planting of the trees brings with it a stronger connection to our local environment, which is likely to lead to further change to benefit the environment.

We need trees for our quality of life and for the many communal, economic and practical benefits they bring, in addition to critical carbon storage. There are so many extra ‘bonus’ reasons to ensure that, as a matter of urgency, our local trees and woodlands thrive and expand into all of the places where trees are both suitable and the best option.

It is not just about trees though! The key wildlife organisations in the region come together to work on the best balance of different habitats through the West of England Nature Partnership (WENP). The Forest of Avon Trust, as a member of WENP, has consulted with wildlife organisations and authorities across the region in drafting the upcoming Forest of Avon Plan: West of England Tree and Woodland Strategy to set out detailed plans for new projects and wide scale action.

The Trust has made plans to increase the scale of their planting over the next five years. The Trees for Climate programme is in progress across the West of England and the November 2020 – March 2021 season alone has seen planting that will store 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

In the same way that there are grants for residential renewable energy systems and grants for commercial premises provided by Solarsense, there are grants and funds available for tree planting. Ask the Forest of Avon Trust about free tree planting, access improvements or woodland management on your land as they have funds available for large or small projects. If you do not have existing land to plant on, why not put a proportion of your savings from adopting renewable energy or energy savings into trees – another example of a win, win!