WE ARE ANDOVER TREES UNITED

We collaborate with schools, local authorities, businesses, specialist environmental organisations, artists and other creative practitioners to promote conservation and educate people about responsible access to wild spaces.

"The wood is a lovely place to spend a morning or afternoon listening to the skylarks song, watch the swifts dive bomb the pond for insects or catch up with friends over a cuppa by the wood burning stove. In the last year I’ve learned to coppice hazel, identify potential Bronze Age artefacts, name at least 3 tree and 4 bird species, what a traditional British hedge is made up of and that we have volunteers who make great cakes.” - Adrian (Volunteer)

Biodiversity isn’t just a buzzword, it’s our guiding principle. It means life. Variety. Resilience. It means protecting the delicate relationships between native trees, pollinators, soil fungi, birds, small mammals, and the many unseen organisms that support entire ecosystems. Our Meadow at Harmony Woods is now developing a rich variety of wildflowers. Notable species included Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis), Lady’s Bedstraw (Galium verum), and Goat’s Beard (Tragopogon pratensis).

We run nature activities for children and their families and are developing youth environmental leadership programmes. By involving the whole community in creating a resource and a legacy for Andover in the form of new urban woodland, open and accessible to all, we aim to aid the development of a sense of community and inclusivity in our expanding town. 10,000 British native trees have been planted as of November 2021.

The charity’s wood and its facilities provide a wealth of opportunities for learning in and about the natural environment. It remains a long-term aim of our project to offer a space that inspires a love of the natural world through a wide-range of conservation and creative activities, that promotes an understanding of the climate crisis and the need for environmental stewardship and that encourages community cohesion through action that includes all, irrespective of age, ability, aptitude or ethnicity.

By working closely with 25 schools in Andover and surrounding villages, from 2012 - 2022 we welcomed 10000 children and young people, their teachers, families and friends to plant trees and wildflowers, resulting in the creation of our flagship community woodland, Harmony Woods. On completion of the main wood, our focus on community engagement is through wildflower meadow creation and hedgerow planting; annual children’s tree planting continues on other sites in partnership with local landowners.

In a nutshell, we are working to increase biodiversity, offset carbon emissions, sustainably manage the woodland, create more wild spaces, educate the public in conservation of the natural environment and provide opportunities for the community to learn about wider environmental issues such as: sustainability, climate change, ecology and the mitigating need for trees. Nature in Harmony is our wildlife monitoring project based in Harmony Woods and the wider Diamond Wood.