Woodland Trust pledges to end use of plastic tree guards

Woodland Trust site manager Joe Middleton at Avoncliff, near Bath, where alternatives to plastic tree guards are being trialled

A conservation charity has pledged to phase out the use of plastic tree guards and replace them with more sustainable materials.

The Woodland Trust is trialling alternative materials such as cardboard, wool and plant starch at its site at Avoncliff in Wiltshire.

It says it wants to stop using plastic guards by the end of the year.

"Now it's time to step up innovation on this with our plastic-free pledge," said the trust's Ian Stanton.

"We have been trialling a wide range of alternative plastic-free products across a number of sites within our estate for some time and new innovative products are being added to these trials all the time," Mr Stanton, head of sustainability, added.

The tree guards are used to protect young saplings from grazing by deer or rabbits while in the early stages of growth

The Woodland Trust hopes to plant 10 million saplings each year up to 2025, and says it wants to drive "permanent change" in the tree planting sector.

The trial at Avoncliff saw the charity work with academics, manufacturers, foresters and conservationists to trial 14 greener alternatives to using plastic.

"As one of the nation's largest tree planters, by committing to go plastic free in our terms of the use of tree shelters, we are set to be the trailblazers in this field and catalysing a permanent change to the tree-planting world," said chief executive Darren Moorcroft.

Alternatives to the plastic guards will be scaled up by the end of the year, although a small number of plastic tubes in good condition will be reused for the time being, the charity said.