Trees are the sign of a healthy nation
- By Richard Branson -
- Dec 07, 2012
Today is an important day for Britain’s trees and anyone who cares about the UK’s wildlife. With the Government’s announcement of the Ash Disease Control Plan comes an opportunity for all of us, to start making a difference to the country’s wildlife.
Britain’s trees are currently facing an unprecedented threat, with a growing number of diseases such as chalara ash dieback already having a devastating impact across Europe on numbers.
Healthy trees are the sign of a healthy nation, they are our country’s lungs and allow our ecosystems to function. I was lucky enough to be raised by my family in the English countryside, where we were surrounded by a great many green areas. We now live on island which is also bursting with life, the species which we share the island with wouldn’t be able to exist if it weren’t for the trees which stand tall on Necker.
As the UK Government looks at how we protect our trees, bodies such as the Woodland Trust are trying to educate us all a little more about the pivotal role played by our country’s wildlife.
Like many of our Virgin companies, the Woodland Trust have some bold aspirations. While it’s been a worrying set of circumstances which have seen trees make the headlines, it’s an opportunity that can’t be missed. Trees have been pushed back into the forefront of people’s minds, there’s clearly a great deal of good will and an appetite to work towards a common goal.
If you’d like to find out more about the problem then the Woodland Trust website is full of useful information and facts, as well as some guidance about what you can practically do to make a difference in your local community.
This isn’t a problem which will be fixed by just the involvement of politicians, scientists or organisations such as the Woodland Trust. We all need to realise we’re responsible for taking care of the trees which have taken care of us for so long.
By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group
