Cambridgeshire rewilding charity doubles original planting target

Cambridgeshire-based Creating Nature's Corridors aims to plant 10,000 native trees and hedges a year

A rewilding charity will plant more than 3,000 trees and hedges over the Easter weekend to more than double its planting target for the 2023-24 season.

Cambridgeshire-based Creating Nature's Corridors aims to plant 10,000 native trees and hedges a year, this season it has planted 21,247.

A final 3,400 plants will go in the ground at Huntingdon Racecourse on Friday and Saturday.

Founder, Vhari Russell, said it was "slowly starting to make a difference".

Vhari Russell set up Creating Nature’s Corridors as a means to commemorate the life of her brother Rory

Ms Russell, from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, set up the charity three years ago to commemorate the life of her brother Rory, who died from sudden adult death syndrome, aged 37.

Rory was a carpenter who created structures out of green oak and, like his sister, was a "passionate advocate of spending time in the natural world", the charity said.

After he died, Ms Russell said she wanted to act to "protect the countryside, rebalance the natural habitat and provide a more appealing landscape for local communities affected by commercial developments".

The charity has had the support from nearly 700 volunteers this season

In the past year, planting has taken place at 17 sites across the UK, including Elsworth Community Farm and Huntingdon Racecourse in Cambridgeshire, Pembrokeshire, Kent, Norfolk, Berkshire and Oxfordshire, with the support of 687 volunteers.

The number of projects has risen steadily and this year's efforts, which have also created 1.7km of new hedgerows, brings the total number of trees and hedges now in the ground to 31,389.

The number of projects has risen steadily and this year's efforts have also created 1.7km of new hedgerows

Ms Russell said she was "delighted with the scale of planting" that the charity had delivered, despite "challenging weather conditions".

"Slowly we are starting to make a real difference to both local communities and those farther afield," she said.

"Planting at the primary school attended by Rory's children - in Pembrokeshire - represented a particularly poignant milestone. I'm sure Rory was responsible for helping to make the sun shine that day.

"None of this would be possible without the help of our fantastic volunteers who turn out, often over the weekend, and literally, dig deep to support the charity."