North Holland has more and more trees. As of last winter, no less than one and a half tons of trees and shrubs have been planted, thanks to thousands of volunteers. This mainly concerns trees that otherwise would have had to clear the field and were replanted in other places by the helping hands of volunteers.
With various actions, the North Holland tree stock has received a lot of attention in recent months. The ‘More trees now’ campaign in particular ensures that there are many more trees.
This mainly concerns young trees, shrubs and cuttings that are located in places where they are undesirable. Volunteers remove them from there and plant them back in places where they are welcome. All in all, it ensures that more than a hundred thousand trees can remain standing somewhere.
Deputy Esther Rommel of nature and landscape speaks of a huge success. The plan was to plant 100,000 trees, but the counter now stands at 144,000 planted trees.
More Trees Now
Meer Bomen Nu is a national campaign that moves young seedlings and cuttings from underprivileged to promising places. With 5000 volunteers, 60 tree hubs spread throughout the country and 1,000 planting locations – mainly farmers and citizens – who would like to transplant 1 million trees and shrubs together, they are trying to make the Netherlands greener faster and cheaper and thus inhibit climate change and restore biodiversity.
Last winter they moved about 250,000 seedlings and cuttings of 100 different species with an 80 percent success rate.
The largest planting location last winter was the new residential area Weespersluis between Weesp and Muiden. That was – with no less than 5 hectares of trees – even the largest planting location in the country. The first tree of the season was also symbolically planned there: a tree from the Twiske nature reserve that actually had to go.
more green
The trees planted are just the beginning. The government wants to create an additional 37,000 hectares of forest in the coming years as a measure against climate change and the decline in biodiversity. On a smaller scale, municipalities are helping by placing more greenery within their cores, and farmers are also helping.
But that is easier said than done: nurserymen can barely meet the demand for so many trees. Planting trees by the volunteers of ‘More trees now’ is therefore seen as a good solution. The campaign can therefore also count on financial support from the province.
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