A new Tree Warden Network, launched during National Tree Week, will give residents in St Albans District an opportunity to care for their local environment.
The Tree Council joined representatives of St Albans City and District Council to deliver an inaugural training session for the newly-recruited Tree Warden volunteers, who are taking part in a pilot project in the Cunningham area of the city.
The scheme will be rolled out to other parts of the District where there is interest from residents after the pilot is completed.
Sam Village, the Tree Council’s National Tree Warden Scheme Coordinator, delivered an introduction to the scheme, explaining the role of a Tree Warden and how they will help protect and nurture trees. The session at the Council’s Civic Centre also included guidance on watering, reporting concerns and carrying out some other vital tasks.
Sam Village and Cllr Taylor at the training session
Afterwards, she joined Councillor Jacqui Taylor, Lead for Sustainability and Climate, and the Tree Wardens to plant a ceremonial oak tree at the Cunningham Hill Open Space.
Sam Village said:
We are delighted to support the local authority in launching the St Albans Tree Warden network, empowering residents to play an active role in caring for their local trees.
Together, they are helping to create a stronger, greener community as they join thousands of volunteer Tree Wardens across the country in planting, caring for and protecting trees for the future.
Tree Warden tasks will include looking for potential planting sites and checking on the stakes and ties of young trees.
In addition, they will help with the Council’s annual tree giveaway under the Your Tree, Our Future scheme, run in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council.
During December, 12,000 trees will be distributed free to District residents and community groups. This will bring the total given away since the scheme started in 2022 to 35,000.
Councillor Taylor said:
Our Tree Wardens have the potential to become community heroes as the voluntary work they do will help protect and nurture our trees now and for future generations.
They will be our eyes and ears as far as the trees in Cunningham go, watering trees, checking them and reporting any concerns like possible disease or broken branches to us.
As a Council, one of the actions we have been taking to tackle the climate emergency is to plant more trees around the District.
Anyone interested in becoming a Tree Warden in Cunningham or being involved in a scheme elsewhere in the District should email treewardens@stalbans.gov.uk.
For more information about The Tree Council’s Tree Warden Scheme, visit https://treecouncil.org.uk/tree-wardens/
