Video Credits: Plantation Video. Edited by: Ben Cole Filmed by: Ion Holban Music by: Nico de Transilvania & Abstract Source
November was an exciting month for Forests Without Frontiers – we completed our first plantation of 15,000 trees high in the Făgăraș Mountains in Carpathia.
The wind was up, the temperatures dropped, but our team of 30 locals worked hard to plant thousands of young saplings across three hectares. Our chosen site was Nucșoara, an area close to the tree line that has been clear-cut and is in desperate need of regeneration.
“The forests were brutally cut down 10-15 years ago and as well as preserving the natural forests we have it’s very important to reconstruct areas that were destroyed,” said Mihai Zotta, technical director of our partners Conservation Carpathia.
A mix of four locally-grown tree species was used – starting with spruce higher up, with beech, fir and mountain maple lower down. Planting varied native species is imperative for the ecological regeneration of the area, rather than monocultures that don’t support the ecosystem and wildlife, explained Zotta. A maintenance programme is in place to ensure the saplings have the best chance of survival and is included in the £2 cost of each tree.
The size of the plantation is an incredible achievement for FWF, which was set up just a year ago by Nicoleta Carpineanu, aka Nico de Transilvania, a DJ and musician who grew up in the area.
“It all started with a dream I had to plant trees for future generations with the help of music and arts. All profits from my recently-launched debut album Be One went into the project. To have already planted 15,000 trees is amazing. I want to thank everyone who has donated and supported us so far.”
This is just the beginning. Forests Without Frontiers is working to plant 50,000 trees by spring 2020 – the next planting season – and has a new goal of planting one million trees by 2025.
“We have big ambitions,” said Nicoleta. “We have access to enough land to plant a million trees, which is 200 hectares of forests. This will help create the largest forested National Park in Europe. This is desperately needed – for the wildlife here, for the local people, and to do what we can to help Mother Nature and address the climate crisis. We are working hard to make this a reality and hope people will support us in whatever way they can.”
The Forests Without Frontiers fundraiser is live at #forestswithoutfrontiers: Help plant 50,000 trees and companies and individuals who are interested in balancing their carbon footprint and helping grow a forest are encouraged to get in touch at info@forestswithoutfrontiers.org.
Thank you to everyone that supported us so far! The team: Jane Dunford, Ion Holban, Marius Bugeac, Rex Brangwyn, Fran Southgate, Howard Johns, Doru Sana, Julia Blagbrough, Daniela Welzel, Solange Leon, Katie Fowler, Wendy Scott, Andreea Centea, Alexandra Dumitru, Emma Wallace, Nina Garnett, Rumi Fox. Our Partners: Foundation Conservation Carpathia, Muzica Without Frontiers. Paradise Forests of Romania, It Must Be Now Our Donors: Zentiva, Locate Productions, Zivi & Mark Sainsbury, Andrew Ruhemann, Mr Bongo, Sarita Restaurant Albir, Moyra Scott, Katie Boston, Matt Black, Nigel Berman, Form Space Cluj, Brighton Electric, Teresa Golden, The Unity Agency Our ambassadors: Francesca Martinez, Raoul Martinez, Jamie Catto, Caroline Lucas, Russell Brand, Hot Chip, Paul Harris, Claudiu Sulea, Danny Hughes, Oana Ghiocel, Nico Simone, Nick the Record, Tom Beaufoy
Article: Jane Dunford