Meetings & Events
Forthcoming Events
Sunday 25th September 2011 Tree planting day
Sunday 9th October 2011 Tree planting day
Sunday 23rd October 2011 Tree planting day
Sunday 30th October 2011 Barbecue at Ballamaddrell, Ballabeg. Come and enjoy our thank-you to all our members for their support during the year. Good food, wine, tea, coffee, and lots of time to chat and catch up with everyone’s news.
Sunday 13th November 2011 Tree planting day
Sunday 27th November 2011 Tree planting day
Sunday 11th December 2011 Tree planting day
Sunday 15th January 2012 Tree planting day
Sunday 29th January 2012 Tree planting day
Sunday 12th February 2012 Tree planting day
Sunday 26th February 2012 Tree planting day
Sunday 11th March 2012 Tree planting day
Sunday 25th March 2012 Tree planting day
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Official Opening of our new woodland at Sartfell Gill
On Friday the 6th May 2011 we held the official opening ceremony of our newly planted woodland at Sartfell Gill. The opening was kindly attended by Tim Crookall, MHK, Minister for the Environment; Andrew Sidebottom of the Forestry, Amenity and Lands Directorate; Mr. R. Kennaugh, of Michael Commissioners; and several directors of the Isle of Man Woodland Trust.
Although the morning was misty and murky, several times the mist cleared, and everyone was able to see the extent of the new woodland together with the wonderful views over the valley towards Kirk Michael and Peel Bay.
The new woodland has been created and planted on a site owned by the Forestry Division, which means that it can be enjoyed by the public, who will be able to see the progress of the new trees as they grow. We hope that the three-acre site will provide a beautiful, varied and richly bio-diverse resource for the Island for many generations to come.
We are most grateful to the Forestry Division, the former Minister for Agriculture and Environment Phil Gawne, and Andrew Sidebottom for their pioneering work in finding us a site to plant with mixed deciduous trees, so creating a wildlife corridor for the future, and a significant contribution towards offsetting the effects of climate change. Hopefully, we will be able to co-operate with the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture in the future to plant another such area.
Our thanks also to Mr. Crookall and Mr. Kennaugh for braving the elements to join us in celebrating the opening of the Sartfell Gill site.
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HSBC Environmental Awards
In February 2009, The Isle of Man Woodland Trust was given the care of a piece of land at Sartfell hairpin by the Forestry Division. The three-acre site is a scrub gulley, with wonderful views over the valley and sea. We plan to plant it with an assortment of native species trees and shrubs. As this is a relatively large area, needing to be fenced from stock damage to the trees we plant, we were initially wondering how we would find the funds from our stretched budget.
Then, earlier this year, the Trust heard about The HSBC Environmental Awards Scheme. This was to be a number of cheques awarded to environmental causes around the Isle of Man, which were deemed worthy of support. The Trust submitted a proposal for an award towards the cost of fencing the Sartfell site, and to our delight we were awarded a prize of £1400.
Directors of the Trust being presented with a cheque for £1400, by, second left, the Minister for the Environment, John Shimmin, and, far right, the Area Manager of HSBC Bank Isle of Man, Mike Hennessy.
The presentation was held on Thursday, the 23rd April in the HSBC bank in Douglas. Three of our directors attended the ceremony, and very much enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of HSBC and their staff members.
The awards were presented by Environment Minister John Shimmin, and Mike Hennessy, Area Manager for HSBC Bank in the Isle of Man.
As an update, we have now started planting trees at Sartfell, and the fencing of the site is due to begin in the next couple of weeks. HSBC staff are keen to help with the planting, and we are arranging a planting day for them in January 2010. Future generations of islanders and visitors will be able to enjoy this site as the woodland grows.
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