A Royal Visit - Prince William plants with Stump Up For Trees
The Stump Up For Trees team were delighted to welcome His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to Great Tre Rhew farm, one of the charity's case study sites, today.
The visit marks an important moment for the charity, which has reached the halfway point of its target to plant one million trees across South Wales and the Bannau Brycheiniog. The charity works with more than 150 farming families and other landowners to deliver nature restoration and farm resilience.
The Prince helped volunteers gather seed for the charity's community tree nursery and planted an oak in a shelterbelt. This shelterbelt, a strip of woodland planted with native trees on a field boundary, shows the multiple benefits trees can bring to a working farm. It shelters newborn lambs from cold winds in spring; it provides habitat connectivity for wildlife and it help with natural flood and drought management across the wider catchment. The charity's work shows that a bespoke, actively supported, farm-based approach to building resilience can lead to measurable change at a landscape scale.
During the visit, the team discussed the charity's model with His Royal Highness and representatives from the Duchy of Cornwall, including how the farmer-led model could be shared and copied in other areas of Wales. The charity is funded significantly by local businesses and powered by a network of community groups and individual volunteers. This private support allows the charity to work flexibly with each farm. This combination - local investment and farmer-led delivery - is what the charity hopes others can learn from.
Dr Jenny Knight, Director, said:
"We were honoured to show His Royal Highness what farmers, landowners, volunteers and communities across South Wales are achieving together. When trees are carefully integrated into farm systems, their value as a tool for reducing the impact of climate extremes, whether flood, drought or wildfire, cannot be overstated."
Rob Penn, author and co-founder, said:
"None of this would be possible without the farming families, our partners and our amazing volunteers. Our aim has always been farmer-led change, giving communities the agency to work together to create resilient landscapes. Place-based change means boots on the ground and building relationships. Working with the Duchy of Cornwall to share knowledge, particularly on commons projects and establishing trees in bracken, will be a great step forward."
