In this member blog, Ellie Potts, coordinator at Partnership member Arkbound, shares details of their returning ‘Oakupy’ project after the success of last year. Find out how you can help them plant more trees this winter.

We (Arkbound Foundation) are so excited to announce our tree planting project is back for another year!

You may have seen ‘The Oakupy Project’ on one of our previous blogs on Bristol Green Capital but in case you missed it…

Last winter, we offered native oak trees free of charge to community groups, schools, organisations, and individuals to plant and care for. Between us, we managed to plant 1,000 trees across Bristol and the South West.

After the success of the initiative last year, we have decided to take our shovels out of retirement and run it again.

Once fully grown, 1,000 trees will sequester around one hundred tonnes of carbon emissions. For context, that’s equivalent to over ten years of an average person’s carbon footprint! By planting trees now, we are making positive changes for our future and the future of generations to come.

Not only will these trees sequester carbon emissions making our air clean to breathe, they will cool our city down. On average, cities are seven degrees higher than rural areas due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect.

Urban landscapes, such as road surfacing, and anthropological heat, such as transport and building lighting and heating, all contribute to the UHI effect. Trees release water through leaf evapotranspiration and provide shade for buildings and road surfaces. These two factors contribute greatly to cooling down city streets.

More trees are good for the planet and for us. Green, outdoor spaces improve our mental health. The levels of our stress hormone, cortisol, have been proven to reduce when we are around nature, specifically trees. Trees have the power to reduce anxiety and stress, something we all need less of after the difficult year we have faced.

With ‘The Oakupy Project’ we hope to create even more pockets of green space around Bristol and the South West we can all enjoy. We want to encourage everyone, from all walks of life, to get outside and plant some trees.

Want to help us plant 1,000 trees this winter? To request some native oaks free of charge or to find out more about the project, get in touch with Ellie.

We can’t wait to oakupy the streets, fields, and gardens of Bristol and the South West with us!

To keep up-to-date with Arkbound’s projects, follow them on Twitter: @ArkboundUk, Instagram: @ArkboundUK and Facebook: @Arkbound.