At VESP Architects, we are committed to promoting sustainable practices and reducing our impact on the environment. As part of this commitment, we recently participated in a day planting trees with Moor Trees at Coombeshead Rewilding.
Moor Trees is a charity dedicated to restoring native woodland on Dartmoor and South Devon. Our location, Coombeshead Rewilding, is working towards creating a diverse and thriving ecosystem that supports a wide range of plants and animals. Planting trees is a crucial part of this process to restore wild habitats, and a huge benefit of this is their ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their biomass, helping to mitigate climate change. From an architectural and construction perspective, the use of timber will be an essential tool to not only reduce, but capture and store carbon dioxide within the built environment.
We were therefore delighted to join Moor Trees for a day’s volunteering, to help re-wild the natural landscape we live in, as well as do our bit for global warming. Laura gave us a briefing on the importance of selecting the right tree species for the site and demonstrated how to plant them correctly. Dressed head-to-toe in waterproofs, and armed with shovels, spades, and tree guards, we began our work.
After a morning of hard work we’d planted 200 trees that would form a natural hedge boundary. Following lunch we then planted a corner of a field to form the beginnings of a small wooded area. During the day the animals at Coombeshead Re-wilding (horses, Buffalo and Wild Boar) came to say hello. These animals are effectively wild, and would have existed in Devon many years ago. As well as planting, the site is re-introducing these species to achieve a more holistic re-wilding of the area.
At the end of the day we had planted 400 trees; we were tired and muddy, but felt a great sense of achievement. It was also great fun to work together as a team outside of the studio environment. We want to thank Laura from Moor Trees for her guidance and support throughout the day, and for Coombeshead Rewilding for hosting us. We would encourage anyone to get in touch with the charity to find out about the various days they hold for volunteering around Dartmoor and Devon, and we will definitely be joining in with more events in the future.
VESP is the exciting new face of van Ellen + Sheryn architects. Since 2006, we have established ourselves as one of the leading RIBA Chartered Architects in Devon and the South West. Our rebranding recognises the growth of the company and the talented team of architects and designers in our studio. VESP design contemporary, high-quality architecture that roots itself in the sensitive landscapes of coast and moorland. For more information, visit our about us page.
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