Catterall Micro-wood
2nd of November, 2024
Catterall will soon be home to a Micro-wood (also known as a Miyawaki forest) which is a popular and successful method of planting trees.
Catterall’s micro-wood will be situated on the field at the bottom of Keepers Wood Way and will take up an area of around 200 square meters, which is about the size of a singles tennis court. There will still be plenty of space for dogs to run!
The process involves ground preparation (soil cultivation and improvement) which will take place w/c 4th November, installing a fence and sign, and a community volunteer tree planting day. The micro-wood will contain around 850 very young trees, shrubs and plants. It needs little maintenance over its life span and will self-thin. By following this process, the trees will grow faster than other traditional woodland planting methods.
A micro-wood will play an important role in providing homes and food for birds, butterflies, insects, and other invertebrates. It will also help fight against climate change by locking carbon into the soil at a faster rate than other newly planted trees. As an ever evolving environmental feature it will look very different each year it grows. It reaches maturity in about 30 years and the end result is a little slice of mature, robust forest in a park.
This project has been many months in the planning and is a collaboration between Lancashire County Council's Treescapes Team and Catterall Parish Council. Funding comes from the Coronation Living Heritage Fund, which supports local tree planting projects to commemorate the King's coronation. The Coronation Living Heritage Fund supported by £2.5m in funding has been made available through DEFRA’s £758m Nature for Climate Fund. There will be no cost to residents, Catterall Parish Council, borough councils or county councils.
The tree planting will be completed by community volunteers from Catterall Parish Council, Catterall in Bloom, 1st Catterall Brownies and 1st Kirkland and Catterall Beavers on Saturday 16th November. If you would like to be involved please email the Treescapes Team at Lancashire County Council [email protected]