Question: When did ‘plantations of plastic’ become the accepted way to plant trees, improve wildlife corridors, bolster riverbanks and capture carbon?
Answer: In 1979, when plastic tree guards became the widespread means of protecting sapling trees from being eaten by mammals such as deer, squirrels and voles. Prior to this time, nature decided which trees survived and which didn’t, helping create natural, resilient woodlands.
Despite the so-called benefits of planting trees in plastic tubes, the Yorkshire Dales still ranks third lowest (after the Broads and the Pembrokeshire Coast) in terms of tree cover out of all the National Parks in England and Wales* and has a staggering estimated 3 million tubes − a third redundant − littering the landscape. Such tubes if left uncollected degrade and shatter into microplastics polluting our soils and watercourses.
“Despite garnering the support of Campaign for National Parks and 11 out of the 12 National Park Societies of England and Wales to support our plastic free woodlands campaign over the last five years, along with influencing planting organisations such as the Woodland Trust, this toxic legacy continues to be created,” explains Bruce Mcleod, trustee of Friends of the Dales. “It’s important to keep trying to engage with new audiences and highlight the great climate irony of planting trees for carbon sequestration alongside a product made from the fossil fuel industry. This is why we turned to the Dales business, Foggy Outline, providers of online environmental learning, to help us produce a short educational video highlighting this toxic issue from a fresh perspective.”
The short, animated film shows teenager, Amira visiting the Yorkshire Dales with her family. Awed by its beauty but puzzled by the thousands of plastic tubes, she returns home to find out more and starts to research alternative types of tree guards such as those made from widely available sheep’s wool.
Performing the voice of Amira is Hamnah Khalil, a year 11 pupil at Skipton Academy who said: “It was an interesting experience, teaching me more about the area I live near and to be more aware of my surroundings, especially when there are such things like plastic tree guards polluting our planet and little is being done about it.
“I was able to speak to my family and friends about the issues in our environment and how concerning it is. I also really enjoyed performing the voice over and would love to have further opportunities like this.”
Amira’s Story – No More Plastic Tree Guards can be watched or downloaded from the Friends of the Dales YouTube channel.
*National Parks Health Check Report 2024 by Campaign for National Parks