For the very first time at Westonbirt Arboretum’s Festival of the Tree (24-31 August) enter the Laboratree tipi and be a scientist for the day.
Delve into the fascinating world of trees - get up close with live bugs and bark under the microscope, meet some real-life scientists and take in the Forestry Commission’s new film ‘The World is Hot Enough’.
The Cotswolds Conservation Board’s Sustainable Development Fund is kindly supporting Laboratree. With their help, this outdoor science ‘lab’ has hi-tech microscopes to get children even closer to trees, and to a wonderful miniature world. Visitors can also get up close and personal with the insect pests that may become common as the climate changes.
Also in the ‘lab’, the educational DVD ‘The World is Hot Enough’ will reveal how trees and woodlands can help us fight climate change, and how forests might change in future. Laboratree also has gardeners’ question times with Westonbirt’s Plant Centre experts, ‘Meet the scientist’ sessions, and films, talks and walks about trees, woodlands and their future with climate change.
The microscopes and other exciting new resources will become part of Westonbirt’s new trees and climate change education programme ‘Forests for the Future’, which will go out to schools in the area over the coming year. The programme includes activities such as a carbon calculator and a racing game to work out how far trees might have to move to keep up with climate change. The activities, DVD and posters will then be shared with other Forestry Commission sites to help roll out the programme across the country.
As well as Laboratree, there’s so much to see and do at the Festival of the Tree that it’s well worth planning ahead. For the full programme of events, go to www.forestry.gov.uk/westonbirt
Westonbirt is open all year round. The Festival of the Tree is open from 9am-5pm. During the festival, admission to the whole arboretum is £8 for adults, £7 concessions, £3 for children (18yrs and under). Discounted tickets for return visits to the festival will also be available - £20 adults, £16 concs.
Westonbirt Arboretum is three miles south west of Tetbury on the A433 (Tetbury to Bath Road). It is 10 miles north east of Junction 18 of the M4, and south-east of junction 13 of the M5.
For further information, please contact Gail McKenzie, Communications Officer, Westonbirt - The National Arboretum, on 01666 881 207 email: gail.mckenzie@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
NOTES TO EDITOR
1. Image of Laboratree attached – credit Forestry Commission.
2. Westonbirt - The National Arboretum is managed by the Forestry Commission and renowned worldwide for its tree and shrub collection. It contains nearly 16,000 specimens, including almost half of the woody plants known to grow in the world's temperate climate zone. It covers 600 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. Its importance is recognised by English Heritage's Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historical Interest as a Grade 1 registered Landscape. Visitor numbers are 350,000 a year, with a membership of over 21,000.
3. The Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is looked after by the Cotswolds Conservation Board – an independent organisation with 37 members, 15 nominated by local authorities, 8 by parish councils and 14 appointed by Government. With its rolling hills and valleys the Cotswolds is the third largest protected landscape in England and Wales after the Lake District and Snowdonia. It covers 2,038 square kilometres (790 square miles), stretching from Warwickshire and Worcestershire in the north, through Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, down to Bath and Wiltshire in the south.
4. Westonbirt Arboretum was established in the 1850s by wealthy landowner Robert Holford, and later developed by his son George Holford. Much of Westonbirt's renowned autumn colour is credited to Sir George's plantings of Japanese maples between 1875 and 1900, many of which are still alive today. Unlike many arboreta, Westonbirt is laid out according to aesthetic appeal rather than scientific or geographical criteria, and the Holfords' legacy is open for all to enjoy - a beautiful, relaxing and unique day out among some of the tallest, oldest and rarest trees and shrubs in Britain.
5. Westonbirt is home to the National Japanese Maple (Acer) Collection, with over 300 different types in the collection. The Forestry Commission opened Westonbirt Arboretum to the public in 1961, and in 1966 a new Acer Glade was established, alongside the original one planted by Robert and George Holford in 1875. Today, Westonbirt is in the process of creating the world’s best collection of maples.
6. The Forestry Commission is the government department responsible in England for protecting, expanding and promoting the sustainable management of woods and forests and increasing their value to society and the environment. Forestry makes a real contribution to sustainable development, providing social and environmental benefits arising from planting and managing attractive, as well as productive, woodlands. Further information can be found at www.forestry.gov.uk