1/2 Deputy Hagar Roijackers has harvested the first tree.
About twenty volunteers were busy Friday morning at the Gement in Vught. In the nature reserve they pull trees of about two meters from the ground. These are later planted in new places, where they can grow into forests. It is the start of the Harvest Three Days, organized by MeerBomenNu. The goal: to plant one million trees in Brabant every year.
After a short explanation about how best to remove trees from the ground, the volunteers could start. The honor of harvesting the very first tree from the ground went to Commissioner Hagar Roijackers. After some rooting with the shovel, she took out a large cutting of a birch tree. “It went really well. It was a bit hard to do, but also a lot of fun,” she says.
Then the other volunteers also got to work, armed with a large yellow shovel.
All very young birch trees in the polder area can go. This way the heath can bloom again and the trees get a new place. “If it is full of trees here, everything will grow over and this heath cannot survive,” explains Stijn Mertens of MeerBomenNu. “Natuurmonumenten wants to give the heath a chance to grow again. Normally these trees would be mowed down. We think that’s a shame, so we’re coming to remove them ourselves.”
The birch trees, about two meters long, are all placed on a trailer. At the end of the day, they go to a new place for a second life. “The trees go free to farmers or food forests, for example. Plant locations can register themselves and plant the trees there themselves. Today’s trees go to the food forest of Klein Groenrijk in Cromvoirt.”
In total, about three thousand trees will be removed from the ground on Friday. This is just the beginning of a bigger plan. MeerBomenNu wants to plant at least one million trees in Brabant every year. “These trees are therefore badly needed,” says Mertens.
Deputy Roijackers emphasizes the importance of this day. “In this way we ensure that the Brabant Trees Action Plan will actually be realized: in 2030 thirteen thousand hectares of forest and forty million extra trees in Brabant.” A big goal, but achievable. “You have to do it small, with these kinds of initiatives. And big, for example, by collaborating with tree nurseries and growers.”
Roijackers calls it fantastic that so many people are helping on Friday. “Millions of trees have been sown in this way in recent years, so MeerBomenNu is already successful.”
“In the coming years that will only increase. There are many people who want to do something for nature. And even if you only have one hour to give, you can already get started.” Mertens is also happy with the turnout: “It’s great to see.”
