Thousands of trees have been planted on Pantside Tip in Newbridge in a bid to create native woodlands – and thousands more will follow.
Pupils from Pantside Primary School, Newbridge School and Pantside YoutH club helped plant over 500 Alder, Beech, Hawthorn, Birch and Oak oak to help extend and a native woodland on the hillside near the tip.
This follows an initial project in February last year when schoolchildren and residents helped Caerphilly County Borough Council plant 6,000 trees on the site to the east of Newbridge.
Over the next few weeks 4,500 more trees will be planted in this area by the council, to further extend the boundaries of the community woodland.
Ninety years ago Pantside Tip, in the Nant Gawney Valley was relatively untouched by the coal industry and contained a mix of small farms enclosed fields and large areas of woodland.
By 1970 the agricultural fields had been replaced by a large housing estate, the top of the valley had been filled with waste from local collieries and much of the ancient woodland which had escaped the tipping was given over to plantation forestry.
The tip was reclaimed in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, some small blocks of native tree planting undertaken, and a two sports pitches developed, though a large part of the site was left needing future development, being undertaken now with the help of Natural Resources Wales.
Project Manager Carol Travers said: “It is great to see the young people here planting trees near where they live, along with some of their parents.
“The Plant! project, that has planted a tree for every child born or adopted in Wales since 2008, wants the future generations of Wales to see the benefits of creating these green spaces in urban areas.”
The young people from Pantside school and youth club are doing a very fine thing by planting native species of tree. Let’s hope Cwmcarn forest does the same thing, not planting Douglas Fir as has been mentioned in THe Observer.