Events

While often taken for granted, our humble hedgerows are vital to sequestering and storing carbon emissions in their roots, leaves and surrounding soil. 

They also support nature recovery by providing homes, foraging and movement corridors for our wildlife. Added benefits include helping slow water runoff, supplying a rich variety of food, creating shelterbelts for livestock, and contributing to improving air quality. Of course they're also an historic and beautiful part of the traditional English countryside.

In the most recent survey, about 310,000 miles (500,000km) of hedgerows were recorded across Britain. However sadly more than half of our hedgerows have been lost over recent decades, and much of the remainder are degraded or poorly managed.  

Therefore significantly increasing hedgerow length is recognised as an essential response to the climate emergency. The independent Climate Change Committee recommends planting 40% more hedgerows in rural and urban landscapes by 2050, equivalent to about half the length of Britain’s road network! 

However any planting targets of course need to be balanced with all the other pressures on land use, and the various ways in which sustainable land practices can help us achieve a net zero outcome. 

In today’s event we’ll hear from the University of Leeds on their work to measure the potential of hedgerows to sequester soil carbon. We'll also hear about practical project examples of hedgerow planting and restoration, including the Woodland Trust here in Cumbria, and the CPRE's Hedgerow Heroes project in Hampshire.

There’ll also be opportunities for questions and discussion.

This events is part of the Climate Solutions for Cumbrian Landscapes programme

This webinar on peatland supports work by the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership on land use. It's part of an on-going events programme focused on environmental challenges and solutions across different types of Cumbrian landscapes.

Our next event will be focused on Coastlines (28th April).

MORE INFORMATION

Website: Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership

Cost - This event is free to attend.

Venue - This event will be held via Zoom. Once you register, you'll receive a link to join the event. 

Recording - We may record the event to share online afterwards. By taking part in this event, you accept that your name/image/voice may appear in the recording. You can opt not to activate your webcam and microphone, and you can change how your name is displayed in the list of participants. Attendees' video feeds won't necessarily be on screen at any point during the webinar.

Help with joining this event

Are you not sure how to use Zoom but would like to attend our event? If you don't have a friend or family member who can help you get set up, we'd be happy to help you in advance. Please contact us as soon as possible. You can phone us on 01768 210276 during normal office hours (Tue to Fri) or email [email protected].

Unfortunately, we aren't able to offer technical support at the time of the event.

Keep an eye on our website for more events throughout the year!

Donations

If you can afford to support us through a donation, this would be hugely appreciated. As a charity, our scope and reach is dependent on the generosity of those who believe in our cause. We thank you for your support.