Breathing more life into Dartmoor: 34000 New Trees

Donate today to support our most ambitious planting season yet! This winter, we aim to plant a tree to represent every person who lives in Dartmoor National Park – that’s 34,000 trees! 

Introducing Moor Trees

Moor Trees is a registered charity (number 1081142) based on the edge of Dartmoor, Devon. We are passionate about creating thriving woodlands, rich in biodiversity in response to the climate and nature crises. Every winter we supply and plant thousands of native broadleaf trees, carefully grown from locally collected seed and nurtured in our community tree nurseries to create and expand woodlands and regenerate temperate rainforests across Dartmoor.

Together we can breathe life back into Dartmoor.

Dartmoor was once a much more wooded landscape and temperate rainforest flourished in the region. Today, only fragments of these unique habitats exist, and we want to see them flourish once more. Dartmoor has been identified as one of the few geographical locations to possess the unique climatic conditions to support Britain’s temperate rainforests of the future.

We are currently growing around 70,000 native broadleaf trees in our community tree nurseries and we want to see 34,000 of these put down their roots on Dartmoor and its surrounding areas this winter.

There are 34,000 people who live on Dartmoor, and we hope to plant a tree to represent every person who lives in this landscape this winter.

Our long term ambition is to see 10 million trees take root on Dartmoor by 2050, enhancing and restoring Britain’s globally important temperate rainforests of the future.

Our nurseries are brimming with future trees but raising them into sturdy saplings takes more than just sunlight and good intentions. Every stage requires crucial resources from seed trays and compost, to transporting trees to planting sites. It's a challenging but incredibly rewarding process, and we need your help to enable the next 34,000 trees to reach their planting sites this season.

Your contribution, no matter the size, will transform these seedlings into Dartmoor’s future woodlands.

Moor Trees and the Community

Many of us want to do something to combat the climate and nature crises but don’t know where to start. At Moor Trees we open our doors three times a week and welcome people from across the community to join us. In addition to this we host bespoke corporate wild workdays, to allow you and your colleagues to learn new skills, team build, and support nature recovery in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.

"After a day at Moor Trees I feel better in myself, and happy to have contributed with others to the wellbeing of the planet" (Moor Trees Volunteer)

We welcome one-off volunteers, regular volunteers, and those who dip in and out. In 2023 we counted over 4500 volunteer hours supporting our tree growing and planting ambitions. Guided by our knowledgeable team, everyone can make a difference.

Remember, new woodland takes 25 years to reach maturity, so the time to act is now.

Our trees restore thriving ecosystems while combatting climate change.

Did you know that 53% of woodland species are in decline?

Planting trees is about more than simply creating woodlands, they are a lifeline for our woodland wildlife that depend on them for food, shelter and breeding sites. Many creatures, from tiny dormice to essential fungi, need healthy woodland to survive, raise young and thrive. Together we need to restore these vital woodland habitats before it is too late.

Trees also provide a natural way to capture carbon, which becomes stored within every part of the tree, where it will stay stored for centuries, even once they fall and decompose the carbon then remains trapped in the soil. 

Dartmoor offers a real opportunity to expand tree cover for both climate and nature. Strategically planting trees, particularly near bodies of water, significantly reduces the risk of flooding. The extensive root networks of these new trees will act like natural filters, absorbing rainwater and preventing soil erosion. This approach would not only contribute to mitigating climate change but also enhance the overall health of Dartmoor’s environment.

Success for Moor Trees!

To date we have planted over 165,000 trees, establishing 162 new woodlands plus cultivating and supplying thousands more trees to projects across Devon. We are the only Devon-based charity growing this quantity of local provenance trees to create Britain’s temperate rainforests of the future.

Where will your donation go? 

Our nurseries are bursting with potential, but to nurture these seedlings into strong saplings ready for planting we need your support. Essential resources from water and compost, to lifting and transporting trees in the winter out to sites takes both time and resources. 

You can make a difference by donating today.

For more information on Moor Trees please visit www.moortrees.org 

With your donation today, no matter the size, we can turn those hopeful seedlings into Britain’s future woodlands. Every contribution gets us closer to our goal of seeing 34,000 trees take root by Spring 2025.

Donate today and create the woodlands of tomorrow.