To showcase the importance of arboriculture and the tree care community to the general public, the Association teamed up with Forestry England to deliver its inaugural Tree Care Forum event on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 May.
Visitors to the national arboretum heard from 16 speakers who presented on the diversity of the profession and on the critical role that arboriculture plays in protecting and caring for our amenity trees. The morning featured presentations on pests and diseases, bats and trees, health and wellbeing, tree growing and nursery production, ancient trees and careers in arboriculture, all followed by very engaging Q&A sessions.
The interactive afternoon sessions featured a range of activities for visitors to choose between. Members of the public participated in an Endangered Trees walk with Dan Crowley and Tony Kirkham, and the volunteers from the Friends of Westonbirt led several ‘Behind the Scenes’ walks where visitors learned about tree establishment at the arboretum.
An important aspect of the event was to ensure that there were activities aimed at all ages, particularly children. Forestry England provided a Meet the Machines area with old tractors, as well as wellbeing, tree science and dendrology activities that kept everyone busy.
The Children’s Tree Climbing workshop on Saturday was extremely popular with 84 young budding climbers giving the ropes a go. Another inspiring activity was Sheffield University’s Hapa Zome (leaf printing onto fabric using hammers) – something that will continue to feature in future exhibitions, I’m sure!
Feedback from the event has been positive and plans are being made for it to develop and to be integrated into the ARB Show next year in May. In line with the Association’s strategic aim to inspire, support and promote the tree care community for a society that better appreciates and cares for trees, we are aiming to establish the event as a foundation for generating public exposure to arboriculture.
We would like to thank everyone who participated in the Forum, from our colleagues at Forestry England, to all our speakers and workshop leaders who volunteered their time, our exhibitors Barcham Trees and Sorbus, and of course the staff at the Association (and their partners!) who all pitched in and worked hard to make the event a success.
Some of the presentations will be available soon to view on our website at www.trees.org.uk/Online-Learning