The Harmony Woods Project by Andover Trees United is a living landscape, dedicated to the notion that our young people are the planet’s future custodians and for them to succeed in this, they need us to teach them that it is possible, show them that small actions taken collectively can make a huge difference and demonstrate leadership.

Tree planting, habitat restoration, and biodiversity enhancement matter; it is no good talking about what needs to be done, we have to do it. In the words of our young Climate Justice Ambassadors we must STOP TALKING AND START PLANTING (ref. Plant-for-the-Planet)

The Harmony Woods Project respects, creates and protects wild spaces for the benefit of both nature and people. While the legacy of our joint actions, putting children and young people at the centre, will provide a thriving home for wildlife and help to mitigate climate change, the process of creating it supports environmental education and community engagement through practical conservation.

(Above) Harmony Woods 2011 - 2022: From the first school tree nursery beds to the last time all schools came together to plant

Tree Planting at Harmony Woods

The creation of Harmony Woods was a 10-year planting project 2012-22. By working with all local schools and establishing an annual tree planting day in the school calendar, all children and young people in our community over that 10-year period were given the chance, collectively, to turn 12 acres of farmland into urban woodland, increasing biodiversity and providing a wealth of opportunities for learning in and about the environment.

The Diamond Wood - celebrating the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

The 12-acres planted by the children, named ‘Harmony Woods’, form part of a larger area of new woodland, 44 acres in total, located between the southern edge of the village of Enham Alamein and a large new housing estate, Augusta Park, on the northern side of Andover; the remaining 32 acres were planted en masse in 2012. Working with The Woodland Trust several years before planting started, Andover Trees United was able to secure the designation of ‘Diamond Wood’, one of 60 new 60-acre woods planted to commemorate the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. Together with a further 16 acres near Basingstoke, they complete the Hampshire Diamond Wood.

Read more about the history of the the site here.