Environmental charity 2 Minute Foundation calls on supporters to help plant a new forest

'Planting trees helps to restore nature, capture carbon and create an ecosystem for insects, birds and all kinds of species to thrive in'

28 September 2020 0 comments

By Olivier Vergnault

The 2 Minute Foundation environment charity in Bude is calling on its followers to plant acorns and other tree seeds with a view to help create a new forest next year (Image: 2 Minute Foundation)

An award-winning environmental charity based in north Cornwall is set to plant its own forest - and it needs your help.

The 2 Minute Foundation, which is behind the #2MinuteBeachClean project, has launched a crowdsourcing campaign to plant and grow a new woodland full of British native trees.

It is encouraging the public to get involved by planting acorns, conkers, hazelnuts, beech masts and ash samaras in toilet roll tubes this autumn so they are ready to be planning into the ground next autumn.

Martin Dorey, founder of the 2 Minute Foundation in Bude, North Cornwall (Image: 2 Minute Foundation)

Martin Dorey, founder and chief executive of the organisation based in Bude, Cornwall, said cleaning up plastic from beaches is only one aspect of protecting the planet.

He said: “We think this project is unique. We’re going to crowdsource a forest.”

He added: “We’re all about tidying up the planet two minutes at a time. Part of that, we think, is to help the planet to heal.

“Planting trees helps to restore nature, capture carbon and create an ecosystem for insects, birds and all kinds of species to thrive in.

"Planting trees is also very cost effective, easy to do and the more people who help us the better. What’s the point of having a tight knit family of followers if we can’t get everyone involved? We are going to turn a hashtag into activism.”

Famous for its global #2minutebeachclean campaign, the charity aims to empower, educate, inspire and enable individuals, groups and businesses to make simple changes or take part in simple actions that will contribute to the planet’s wellbeing, as well as their own.

It runs a network of almost 900 ‘beach cleaning and litter picking stations’ around the UK and Ireland and works with the likes of Keep Britain Tidy, Keep Wales Tidy, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Keep Scotland Beautiful as well as the Canal and River Trust, National Trust and Dartmoor National Park.

Martin added: “We’re going to have a planting party. We have access to a few acres, which means we’ll need lots of trees. If people can’t make it, they can send us their saplings and we’ll plant them on their behalf.

"They can visit them later, when the trees have grown a little bigger. It takes two minutes to sow a seed, but a whole family to plant a forest.”

For more information about the project or to get involved visit www.2minute.org

https://2minutebeachcleanblog.wordpress.com/2020/09/26/sow-a-seed/