Stump Up For Trees

We fund tree planting in the Brecon Beacons to combat climate change and help nature. We are a small, community-led charity planting a million trees in the Brecon Beacons area to provide multiple ecosystem services including carbon capture, biodiversity creation, natural flood management and landscape connectivity, as well as benefits to human health and well-being. The Bryn Arw Common Pilot Plant will be circa 100,000 native broadleaf trees on a 64 hectare section of deep bracken, part of the common land that dovers the summit and flanks of Bryn Arw. In a Herculean feat Keith Powell has cut the Welsh words DAW ETO DDAIL AR FRYN and STUMP UP FOR TREES in to the bracken to promote the project. Clearing the bracken is the first and essential step in planting a forest. The Welsh words mean 'There will be leaves on the mountain again'. The sentence references an uplifting line of poetry made popular across Wales during lockdown – ‘Daw eto haul ar fryn’, which means ‘There will be sunshine on the mountain again' Working closely with Coed Cymru and Coed Cadw, the Bryn Arw Commoners Association secured the consent of the landowners, the graziers and all the relevant consultees. Permission to erect a fence on the common for 12 years was granted by the Welsh Planning Inspectorate on 10/5/19. The Welsh Government, via the Glastir Woodland Creation scheme, have agreed to fund this project. The funding partly covers ground preparation and the plant itself, plus 12 years of aftercare for the trees, to ensure the highest rates of survivability. Through entering a partnership agreement with The Woodland Trust, the project received expert advice on the plant design, particularly relating to the mix of broadleaf species and how to protect the existing trees on the common. To procure and plant a tree, and provide 12 years of after-care, costs £4.50. That’s £4.5 million for a million trees.