Employers, including BT, Pearson, and Marks and Spencer, have planted over 10,000 trees at Heartwood Forest to mark Climate Week.

A dozen employers and over 300 staff took part in the tree planting at the Woodland Trust site in Hertfordshire to directly contribute to the development on what will become the largest new native forest in the country.

The Woodland Trust's More Trees, More Good campaign aims to facilitate the planting of 20 million trees every year for the next 50 years, including 600,000 trees at Heartwood Forest alone.

Louise Neicho, site manager at Heartwood Forest, said: "By planting trees during Climate Week, we hope that the staff taking part learnt how important it is to plant native trees for all the many benefits they bring for people and wildlife.

“The Woodland Trust has a target to double native tree cover so we want to educate as many people as we can on why it is so important."

Rod Bristow, president of Pearson UK, added: "It is important that children are educated on the vital role trees and woodland play in our environment.

“Our partnership with the Woodland Trust helps us to do that and reflects our ongoing work to be an environmentally conscious company. The tree planting at Heartwood Forest enabled our staff to get hands on and learn for themselves the importance of creating native woodland in the UK."

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