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Tree planting project at Fleetwood Nautical Campus roots B&FC commitment to sustainability agenda

Published on 28/04/2022 by SGLAS

General news

When people talk about the natural world, our forests are often referred to as the lungs of the planet. That’s why in an effort to reverse the impact of rising carbon dioxide levels, tree planting has become one of the go to activities that virtually everyone on the planet can become involved with. Whilst the claim that we could resolve many of our environmental issues by large-scale reforesting projects might be over-simplistic, it is absolutely the case that trees are not only great for the environment but amazing for our mental health too. The Japanese tradition of forest bathing has received lots of attention in recent years and numerous studies have shown that spending time in the natural world is a great boost for our wellbeing.

With all of this in mind, Blackpool and the Fylde College has embarked on its own tree planting project. Although not quite on the scale to tackle climate change singlehandedly, over 220 saplings have recently been planted at our Fleetwood Nautical Campus and over 30 at our Bispham Campus with varieties chosen to reflect the diversity of native British woodland and hedgerows. Amongst the mix are silver birch with its attractive dappled shade and distinctive bark, hazel with its recognisable catkins, rowan which in Autumn produces a spectacular array of red berries particularly loved by our native birds and hawthorn with its beautiful creamy white flowers which are such a feature of our hedgerows in late Spring.

Lisa Breeze, Head of Estates, is delighted by these new additions to the College grounds:

“We are very passionate about our commitment to sustainability, our strategy for which was first documented in 2012. Since then, we have undertaken some major upgrades to our buildings including the installation of 1500 solar PV panels and spent over £13 million introducing a variety of energy saving and energy efficient technologies. Whilst all of these have had a significant effect on reducing our environmental impact, they largely operate behind the scenes, so people aren’t necessarily conscious of them on a daily basis. One of the wonderful aspects of the tree planting is that it not only makes the campus more attractive but is also a very visible demonstration of our commitment to the sustainability agenda. What’s more, the trees have been chosen to encourage local wildlife so we are hoping for the added bonus of fauna as well as flora.”

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