Natural England

A Buddhist community based in central London has dug deep to help the Woodland Trust create new woodland on 98 acres of formerly arable land within the boundaries of ancient Epping Forest.

Members of the Fo Guang Shan Temple, based near Oxford Street in the bustling centre of London, planted 1,500 saplings of native broadleaved species at Theydon Bois, Essex on Saturday, 27 October. The new wood has free and open access for all and is within 15 minute’s walk of Theydon Bois tube station on the Central Line, putting it on the capital’s doorstep. More than 170 members of the Buddhist community and the wider public joined the tree-planting event.

Saturday’s planting included saplings of oak, ash, field maple, hazel, hornbeam, crab apple, grey sallow, aspen, downy birch, hawthorn, alder, buckthorn and dogwood trees. The site was bought in 2006 by the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, after it raised £600,000 from a public appeal. Support for the fund also came from the Department of Communities and Local Government (the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister), Natural England, the Forestry Commission and Green Arc initiative, as well as local community groups.

The London Fo Guang Shan community has pledged to support Theydon Bois wood by financing the purchase of a further 3,500 saplings to be planted within two years. Leader of the Temple, the Venerable Chueh Yann presented a cheque for £8,520, representing the Temple’s first contribution of 1,500 saplings, to Woodland Trust regional development manager Toby Bancroft before tree planting commenced. Many Temple members made individual or private dedications as they planted the new trees.

The London Fo Guang Shan Temple has Chinese, European and south-east Asian members, and marked its 15th anniversary with the tree planting event. The Venerable Chueh Yan said: “We want children and communities to experience being close to nature with woods and trees, and we want them to take action for the environment, ensuring woodlands are there for future generations to enjoy.”

Theydon Bois wood is part of the pioneering multi-agency Green Arc project, which covers 400 square miles of countryside to the north and east of London, stretching across Essex and Hertfordshire. Plans for the area have recreation and wildlife conservation objectives, incorporating flood risk management, reduced levels of pollution and provision of locally-produced food, together with health and economic benefits. One of its aims is to provide improved public access to green spaces. A similar 120 acre new woodland site is under creation at Havering, also in Essex.

Green Arc’s Director, Mary Parodi said: “The Temple has made a huge effort in providing trees and volunteers to initiate the woodland at Theydon Bois. It’s a great step towards achieving the vision of the Green Arc, bringing the big outdoors to everyone.”

Local dignitaries attending the tree planting included Epping Forest District Council Chairman Cllr Caroline Pond and Cllr Mrs P. Kay Rush (representing Theydon Bois), plus Chairman of Theydon Bois Parish Council Cllr Robert Glozier.

Cllr Caroline Pond, Chairman of Epping Forest District Council, said: “In Epping Forest, of course, we are aware of the importance of trees to our environment. They provide an historical link between generations and an important wildlife habitat. We depend on them for our environment, and they depend on us to provide a place for them to flourish. In time, they will become ancient woodlands for future generations.”

Much of the site is currently open farmland, but it will eventually be home to nearly 50,000 native trees, providing sanctuary and habitats for thousands of species. The woodland’s development will pave the way for landscape-scale changes to help protect wildlife, reduce pollution and enrich the environment of the millions of people – representing virtually every ethnicity on the planet – living on its doorstep.

“It’s one of precious few opportunities to create new accessible woodland for city-dwellers, fitting with the Trust’s policy of creating new native broadleaved woodland,” said the Trust’s regional development manager, Toby Bancroft. “This will create a lasting, large scale community woodland that is readily accessible to all.”

The new woodland, to be cared for and managed by the Woodland Trust, will help buffer already well-established areas of ancient woodland against London’s urban sprawl, and develop into a haven of tranquillity over time.

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For media enquiries contact:
The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail: media@woodland-trust.org.uk

Notes to editors:

The Woodland Trust: The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland. Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free. Further news can be found at www.woodland-trust.org.uk

London Fo Guang Shan community and BLIA
Buddha’s teachings – the Dharma – are a guide to enlightenment and essential truth through complete wisdom and compassion. London Fo Guang Shan Temple was established in 1992 and is one of 200 worldwide branches of Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Taiwan, founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, who advocates Humanistic Buddhism. Its Temple is based in a Grade II* building on Margaret Street W1, tucked behind Oxford Street. It contains a library, three shrines, a mediation hall and offices. London Fo Guang Shan Temple is also known as the International Buddhist Progress Society UK, a registered charity in the UK. It is involved in humanistic activities for British communities, promoting cultural harmony across the country and strengthening the bonds of friendships among people of different faiths and cultures. It is associated with the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA), a Buddhist monastic and lay organisation. For further information, please contact London Fo Guang Shan Temple on 020 7636 8394 or log onto www.ibps.org.uk.

Green Arc: The ambitious Green Arc vision is for a strategic greenspace development project, delivering sustainable benefits for all. The proposed area covers 400 square miles of countryside north and east of London, straddling the southern part of the London-Stansted-Cambridge-Peterborough growth corridor. It will deliver wide ranging benefits including enhanced landscape setting for the proposed new growth and new multi functional landscapes linking recreation, ecological and landscape objectives with flood risk management, reduced pollution and provision of local food, together with health and economic benefits. In addition, accessibility to greenspace for local people will be improved. A partnership of local and regional land managers and organisations is championing the Green Arc vision. For more on this vast and inspirational project log on to www.greenarc.org

The Department of Communities and Local Government DCLG (former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister): £24 million of the Growth Areas Fund (GAF) is being spent exclusively on “green space” projects. GAF will help create new green space and improve existing green space in the three newer Growth Areas, Milton Keynes/South Midlands; London-Stansted-Cambridge-Peterborough and Ashford. Of this funding, £2 million was awarded to Groundwork Hertfordshire on behalf of a partnership of many organisations in the Harlow area and £2.3 million was awarded to the Green Arc Partnership through Essex County Council.

Heritage Lottery Fund: The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy. It has supported more than 16,500 projects, allocating over £3.3 billion across the UK.

Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. It conserves and enhances the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings. Natural England increases opportunities to make the natural environment an enriching part of everyday life, and improve its long term security by contributing to the sustainable management of natural resources.

Biffaward: The project has been funded by Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT), which utilises landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services. In December 1997, Biffa Waste Services agreed to donate landfill tax credits to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) to administer under the fund name Biffaward. Grants made from the fund currently amount to more than £70 million, supporting many worthwhile environmental projects. Biffa is a part of Severn Trent Plc and is one of the largest single suppliers of waste management services in the UK. It collects, treats, recovers and disposes of municipal, commercial and industrial waste nationwide and in Belgium.

GrantScape: It is an environmental grant-making charity. Its aim is to work with communities nationwide in funding projects that have benefit to the local environment. While GrantScape is a new organisation, its heritage lies in the eight years of experience it has with smaller grant-making organisations, which have been consolidated under the one GrantScape name. As a result, the staff at GrantScape have been involved with grant-making since 1997 and to date have been responsible for the management and administration of over £60 million in grants throughout England and Wales. www.grantscape.org.uk

WREN: Distributes landfill tax money to community and environmental projects within 10 miles of landfill sites owned and operated by Waste Recycling Group Ltd. Projects applying for grants from WREN are assessed by an individual panel of locally based experts for their suitability, sustainability and community benefit. Resource: www.wren.org.uk

The Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS) gives waste operators the opportunity to divert a proportion of their annual Landfill Tax bill into the communities and environments around landfill sites. To date the LTCS has funded almost 20,000 projects with £3/4 billion pounds in funding. Resources: www.ltcs.org.uk www.entrust.org.uk

Waste Recycling Group Limited is one of the UK's leading waste management and energy recovery companies and handles in excess of 15 million tonnes of household, commercial and industrial waste each year. Around 50% of Waste Recycling Group’s business is accounted for by waste management contracts with more than 70 local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales. The Company operates facilities for the reception, recycling and disposal of waste, including a network of waste transfer and recycling centres and strategically-situated landfill sites, and is one of the largest operators of civic amenity sites on behalf of local authorities for use by the general public. Resource: www.wrg.co.uk