An ambitious project which is creating a huge new forest in the Duddon Valley needs some help this week.
The Restoring Hardknott Forest project is a partnership between the University of Leeds and Forestry England, which aims to restore a 630 hectare site to native oak and birch woodland, and other natural habitats.
This will benefit locals and visitors and the wildlife of the area, as well as absorbing carbon and adding to the spectacular views of an already scenic Lake District valley.
Starting on a purely voluntary basis, the project now employs three local people and brings schools, colleges and volunteers to visit the forest and try their hand at conservation tasks such as tree planting, the removal of non-native conifers, and wildlife monitoring.
This week (up to 7th December) the project is bidding for a part of a £500,000 initiative from the Ecover cleaning brand to support environmental projects. The ecological cleaning company have been selling more of their products during the pandemic, and felt the right thing to do was to use the extra funds to benefit others.
The project would like people to follow them on Twitter (@HardknottForest) and use the hashtag #universityofleedsxecover to support their bid, to enable the project to continue into 2021 and beyond.
