Successful tree charter
I thought readers might be interested in an event that took place the other Saturday, December 2, at Backhouse Park.
The park has long been loved for its natural diversity, somewhere to go to experience nature in the midst of the city.
It was for these reasons that local group Transition Sunderland chose it to host our first Tree Dressing event.
The event marked the last weekend of The Tree Council’s National Tree Week, a week in which a variety of charities, organisations and local groups celebrate trees across the country.
This year the Woodland Trust – a member of The Tree Council – has been very successful with one of its most ambitious projects, the Tree Charter – For Trees, Woods and People.
This year is the 800th anniversary of The Charter For Trees, which was signed two years after King John signed the Magna Carta, giving access back to the forests for ‘free men’.
Coincidentally, this year the Permaculture Association has unveiled it’s Permaculture Ambassador’s project, whose remit is to spread the word about permaculture so that more people are engaged with the association and are working towards local ‘hives’ of Ambassadors, who support and train one another in order to share permaculture.
Transition Sunderland was so inspired by both the Permaculture Ambassadors project and the Tree Charter that it decided to combine both, celebrating trees by dressing them using the themes of permaculture’s three Ethics: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share.
Transition Sunderland is a member of the Transition Network, an international network of community groups, which aims to increase community resilience to reduce the potential effects of peak oil, climate disruption, economic instability and biodiversity loss.
We feel that hosting events like this, helps us to fulfil the last of these, biodiversity loss, Allan Rowell, Transition Sunderland