LONG-time Silsden resident, Linda Arter, has planted over 2,000 native trees on her two-acre field this year, benefitting the environment and helping to improve natural flood defences within the Aire catchment.

Watching BBC Countryfile and learning more about the significant environmental benefits of tree planting motivated Linda to explore the possibilities of woodland creation on her land, situated between the River Aire and Holden Beck.

Linda said: “I got in touch with the White Rose Forest team via Bradford Council and they organised a site visit and talked me through the options on my land that had previously been used for occasional grazing by a local farmer.

“The tree planting itself was a wonderful experience and will have a much greater positive impact on the environment than anything else we could do as a family. We now have plans for more rewilding in the same location.”

The White Rose Forest team supported Linda through the planning and regulatory process and identified the best funding options for her project. The design and planting was then managed by Ian Butterfield from YORgreen Community Interest Company, a local White Rose Forest partner, who organised a group of volunteers to plant field in February/March this year.

Linda found the planting stage particularly valuable. She said: “I was even able to choose trees to plant in a particular location in memory of my mum and dad.”

The White Rose Forest is the community forest for North and West Yorkshire and is supported by a partnership of woodland creation experts from local authorities, charities, community groups and businesses across the region.

Guy Thompson, White Rose Forest Programme Director, said: “As a community forest, our local communities are at the heart of everything we do. Over time the new woodland on Linda’s land will not only increase biodiversity but will also help to slow the flow of water run-off into the neighbouring beck and prevent future damaging flooding events in communities as far as Leeds City Centre.

Linda’s woodland was funded by the White Rose Forest via the England’s Community Forests Trees for Climate programme, part of the Government’s Nature for Climate fund.

The White Rose Forest team will also be at the Great Yorkshire Show from 12th to 15th July, alongside their other Yorkshire woodland creation partners, the Forestry Commission, Woodland Trust, Humber Forest and South Yorkshire Woodland Creation Partnership, to provide expert advice to anyone considering planting trees on their land.