Written by Jo Cooper Last winter saw a busy schedule of tree planting for the wildwood group. Working with the permaculture project at Blaeneinion at the top of Artists Valley / Cwm Einion (between MAchynlleth and Aberystwyth) we planted over 3 hectares of new native woodland on the holding, in the heart of the target area proposed for the Cambrian Wildwood. During five planting days during the season, we got involved in cutting willows, planting the cuttings, planting rooted trees and protecting the young trees with rabbit spirals. In total the Cambrian Wildwood group contributed around 270 hours work, planting about 3,000 trees out of the total of 7,500 that were planted at this site. The rest were planted by volunteers staying at Blaeneinion through WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms). It was a fantastic achievement on a difficult site, where the tussocky vegetation and bed rock made challenging planting conditions. There was also some challenging weather, seeing us planting in rain and snow, as well as sunshine on occasion. For the final planting day on 20th March there was a large group out planting in warm spring sunshine, a very enjoyable way to end the season.

Tree planting is continuing at Blaeneinion this coming winter, and will be co-ordinated directly by Blaeneinion. If anyone would like to be involved please contact on 01654 781215/781339.