Plant a Tree with Plant One Cornwall

Plant One Cornwall are a Community Interest Company who are on a mission to increase forests and biodiversity of woodland in the UK, one tree at a time. The aim is to restore the English countryside back to rich woodland that benefits the environment and wildlife. 

Carl Rowlison and Rai Lewis founded Plant One to plant more trees in Cornwall. Both Carl and Rai have a huge passion for protecting the environment and created Plant One Cornwall so that local businesses and the public can get involved and excited about creating a positive environmental impact in their local area, that will benefit everyone for, not only decades but, centuries to come.

“Britain was once a wooded isle, with over 98% of the land covered in trees. But now only 2% of that ancient wild wood survives. Cultural amnesia means we have forgotten our woodland past but we are a people of the woods. Our fates are linked, ensuring the survival of our woodlands and trees is imperative to our future.”  – Carl Rowlison, Director and Co-Founder.

In 2021 Whistlefish became a certified partner of Plant One Cornwall and introduced the Plant A Tree Pledge as one of the 5 Green Matters pledges. The Plant A Tree pledge is an optional donation starting from just £1 it can be added to any order at the whistlefish.com checkout.

100% of the donation goes to Plant One Cornwall. On top of this Whistlefish also send a monthly donation. We aim to plant at least 1000 trees in Cornwall and we are getting SO close to this target. 

Read more about the Plant a Tree pledge and keep track of the planted trees here >

 

 

 

With Plant One we can assure that the funding for each and every tree donation goes back into the land. Furthermore, once saplings are established Plant One Cornwall monitor the area to ensure that the trees are surviving and taking to their new area well. 

 

We spoke to Carl the co-founder and director at Plant One Cornwall to find out more about their passion and drive for what they do and why do it.

How and when did you start Plant One Cornwall?

I started Plant One back in 2019. I am a tree surgeon so I understand trees. I wanted to do something to affect change and battle climate change, and planting trees was an obvious choice. I met Rai at a tree event, her enthusiasm for local wildlife and passion to create a home for hedgehogs seemed like a perfect fit. We started out planting one field and it grew from there.

How many trees have you planted?

Established! Not planted! It's kind of a mantra for me!! This year we will hit a milestone as we plant our ten thousand trees, this equals about 80 acres of newly established woodlands. Time to crack open a bottle of rum I think!

How do you check the health of saplings in their new homes?

We establish trees, this means we need to ensure its survival to about 5 years of age, once they hit that mark, they are pretty self sufficient.

Every year we do two beat ups, we revisit each site, weed the area and replace any failed trees, straighten the steaks and retie any tubes.

How do we decide what type of trees need to be established in certain locations?

We are trying to replicate a very specific type of habitat, that of an Atlantic Oak wood, these are a Sessile Oak (Cornish Oak) dominated habitat. Cornwall was once home to a vast woodland that covered Cornwall and stretched up through to Scotland, the last remaining stands can be seen along the Helford and the Fal. It's this native woodland we are trying to restore. This woodland is actually characterised as a Temperate Rainforest, twisted gnarled Oaks drip with lichen and mosses, the damp humid climate creates a unique habitat where biodiversity thrives.

How much Carbon can a tree offset?

We plant trees for biodiversity and amenity value, however the trees sequester carbon and we can use this to help businesses offset their unavoidable emissions, however when we offset with our clients we have to make sure they are doing everything possible to reduce their emissions. 

Whistlefish's goal is to reach 1000 trees (at least) to plant into Cornish soil. We are really excited about our up and coming Tree Planting day in January. Where the Whistlefish team will be getting their hands dirty to help plant over 800 trees to our designated site in Cornwall. 

How can I help plant trees in Cornwall?

You simply can add the Tree Planting Donation to any Whistlefish order. This will help us plant trees into the Cornish countryside from the comfort of your own home no matter where you are in the UK.

Plant One Cornwall are bringing landowners, businesses and members of the community together to bring back woodland and forests to the UK.

If you want to get more involved you can find out more about volunteering, want to sign your business up or even join a tree planting event near you, you can enquire on their website plantonecornwall.com