A partnership project involving local schools, Dumfries Prison and Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands is making progress, with acorns collected in 2023 being planted and looked after in the Prison Polytunnels.
With the acorns now sprouting, the saplings are being distributed to local children through school sessions, led by Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands initiative.
The acorns were gathered from Dumfries & Galloway Trees, the sessile oaks at Loch Trool and the pedunculate oaks at Keir Wood – with the distinction between each source being maintained to give an authentic provenance trail.
Stuart Pomfret from Dumfries Prison said:
“Supporting this great community initiative has been a pleasure for those living and working in HMP Dumfries. We recognise the importance of working closely with community projects in reducing our carbon footprint and helping the environment, both from within our walls or through partnership engagement with the wider community.”
McNabb Laurie from Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands added:
“Thanks so much to all at Dumfries Prison for taking such good care of the Acorns over recent months. Taking the oak seedlings into schools has been very rewarding, but being able to say their origin and entire early life has been spent within the region has added a whole new message and learning point for the kids.
The hope is that some of these saplings will go on to be the next generation of oak trees in Dumfries & Galloway.”
Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands is a new initiative seeking to support trees, habitats and the people that depend upon them across the region. Partners include Borders Forest Trust, Woodland Trust Scotland, Dumfries & Galloway Council and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. For more information about Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands, follow the facebook or twitter pages, visit the website www.dgwoodlands.org.uk or sign up for the newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/iAlL6k.
Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands is registered in Scotland as a SCIO, number 052525.
