Nearly 50 young trees have been planted in Essex as a result of a climate change awareness event.
The Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership recently ran their first ever Climate Awareness Train Event with support from Greater Anglia, Essex Path to Prosperity and Essex County Council.
The Essex Forest Initiative, who also supported the event, pledged to plant one tree for every passenger aboard the Climate Awareness Train – resulting in 43 trees being planted around the county.
Jayne Sumner, Rail Engagement Officer for the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership, said: “Our first Climate Awareness Train was a great success, providing information about how we can all change things in our daily lives to make a difference and help the planet.
“We were delighted to have the support of the Essex Forest initiative because it means the event has had a lasting legacy of many more trees growing which will help lock up carbon, improve air quality, encourage biodiversity, and reduce flooding in the county.”
The Climate Awareness Train event took place on 22 May, departing from Wickford station, travelling to North Fambridge for an hour-long guided walk through the Blue House Farm Nature Reserve and around the Sea Wall, before ending up at the local village hall for refreshments.
The Essex Climate Action Commission provided a talk to give people an insight into how they can work together to tackle climate change.
During the event, Essex County Council handed out free activity packs for children, full of free activities and an i-spy game to help raise awareness of the climate emergency.
Jayne went on to talk about how the purpose of the event was to provide families with “lots of ideas about small changes they can make to help the planet and inspire them to consider travelling more sustainably in the future.”
Senior Forestry and Woodland Officer at Essex County Council, Tom Moat, said: “Tree planting will play an important part in our actions against climate change and whilst plenty more needs to be done to reduce emissions in the first place, the opportunity to engage with Essex residents about the benefits of tree planting is vital in our mission to make Essex cleaner and greener.”
Alan Neville, Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Engagement Manager, said: “Rail has a huge part to play in a greener future as it is one of the most environmentally friendly forms of transport.
“Our brand-new trains contribute to this even further as they are greener than our old ones, and we are also increasing biodiversity at stations across our network with the help of our station adopter volunteers who are dedicating large areas of station gardens to wildlife.”
Image credit: istockphoto.com
