Lewes Urban Arboretum

Lewes Urban Arboretum is a complicated name for a simple project with a noble goal.

 

CommunityAd spoke with the Trees Committee of Friends of Lewes who manage this project to find out more.

 

What are the goals of the Lewes Urban Arboretum?

To make Lewes a “town in the trees” – increasing tree canopy cover in Lewes, from the current 11.5% to the minimum recommendation for urban environments of 20%. We will do this by building on our successful projects to date and supporting other local groups with similar aims.

We work closely with LDC and ESCC to enable us to find spaces where we can be given permission to plant trees safely. This is the biggest challenge and we are always pleased to receive new suggestions. In our various projects we have collaborated with other like-minded community groups, resident associations, Lewes Beavers, Lewes Brownies, and the Railway Land Wildlife Trust.

 

How did this project come into being?

A bequest to Friends of Lewes to fund the planting of trees encouraged the late Paul Millmore, a Friends of Lewes Trustee, to suggest the idea of creating a Lewes Urban Arboretum, consisting of existing tree stock in the town along with additional plantings. After Paul Millmore died, we received a second bequest from his will to fund tree maintenance and early years’ care, and a donation in his memory from Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth. Since then, we have applied for various grants to fund our work.

The Friends of Lewes formed its Trees Committee in 2012 to take the Lewes Urban Arboretum project forward. It consults with residents and landowners across Lewes to identify possible places to plant new trees or replace existing ones to restore or improve the overall streetscape and environment. It monitors and responds to all planning applications which include tree works.

Since 2014 we have successfully planted 82 mature street trees in Lewes and we have plans for several more.

 

What kind of benefits will the Arboretum bring to Lewes?

Increased health and wellbeing! Apparently just 20 minutes in an environment of tree reduces the stress hormone cortisol. As well as improving the look of our streetscapes and green spaces it will create green corridors and stepping stones for wildlife and boost biodiversity. The ecosystems’ values include improved air quality, increased carbon sequestration and storage, and prevention of water run-off and flooding.

 

What sort of trees are you planting?

Mature UK-sourced street trees which are a carefully selected mix of chalk-tolerant native trees, (Whitebeam, Alder, Hornbeam, Birch, Field Maple and Cherry), hardy clones of trees which are under threat from pests or diseases, (the Elm, Ulmus “New Horizon”) and climate-resilient “specimen trees”, (Liquidambar Styraciflua, Ginkgo biloba). Our recent joint project with LDC at Lewes Cemetery focused on planting “trees for bees” because of the wide range of bees and other pollinators recorded there.

We have also planted several hedgerows of native trees species to provide valuable wildlife corridors across the town.

 

You can find out more about the Lewes Urban Arboretum scheme by visiting the Friends of Lewes website.

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