Charity's fundraising push for new forest

A conservation charity is making a final appeal for donations to fund its plan to plant a new forest.

Avon Needs Trees bought the 420-acre Wick Farm between Bristol and Bath in May and is preparing to plant 100,000 trees to transform it into Lower Chew Forest.

A crowdfunding campaign to pay for saplings and equipment broke its initial goal of £50,000, prompting the charity to raise it to £80,000.

It now has just over 24 hours to raise the final £12,000 needed to meet its new target.

Once the fundraising drive has finished, 1,200 volunteers are ready to plant trees, hedgerows and wildflower meadows this winter.

Avon Needs Trees wants to boost woodland cover in the so-called Bristol Avon catchment, which it says is just 7.8% compared to the national average of 13.2%, and improve biodiversity.

The project could also bring benefits to the local community by helping to protect it from extreme weather.

Tom Le Fanu, head of engagement, communications and fundraising at the charity told BBC Bristol that the nearby village of Compton Dando was often at risk of flooding.

"Tree roots act as a sponge holding all that water and making sure it doesn't hit rivers really quickly or all at the same time," he said.

"We are really hoping Lower Chew Forest will have a really big impact on the flooding which is a such a big issue for the community at the moment."

He added: "I was standing on the top of the northern field the other day and you can see where the water has carved out these runnels and is just stripping away the topsoil."

Productive farmland being taken out of use can be contentious in rural communities, and Mr Le Fanu said Avon Needs Trees projects are sometimes met with "scepticism" from neighbours.

"We've worked really closely with those local communities to make sure they can input into our plans, we often adapt our plans around their feedback," he said.

"In lots of cases its really encouraging to see the journey that some of the neighbours come on with us - going from a place of maybe a bit of scepticism, then some of them end up being really strong advocates and volunteering with us on a regular basis."

Avon Needs Trees' crowdfunding campaign ends at 16:30 GMT on Wednesday.

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