Ready. Steady. Grow. I Dig Trees 2016/17. Growing a greener Britain for future generations.

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1 Ready. Steady. Grow. I Dig Trees 2016/17 Growing a greener Britain for future generations.

2 Ready Planning where to create green spaces Not all of the trees that we plant each year are to be found in the countryside. Far from it. The city is home to thousands of them. Given the increasing urbanisation of society, it s more important than ever that we continue this work. Urban planting doesn t just look nicer a single tree can produce enough oxygen for a family of four for an entire year 1, while removing one tonne of CO2 from the atmosphere over its average lifetime 2. So planting trees improves the local environment and can even benefit our health. Greener spaces also give nature a much-needed home. Leeds University found that interconnected green spaces composed of native trees and shrub species, with less intensive management, offer the greatest benefits for wildlife goo.gl/6qksuj I Dig Trees isn t some corporate tree-planting scheme held in a far away place. It s making a real difference where you live in your cities, schools and parks. It brings communities together, improves the environment and makes a difference for future generations OVO Energy created I Dig Trees in partnership with The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) in Since its launch, it s encouraged schools, community groups, charities, stakeholders and even OVO staff and customers to volunteer 120,000 hours of their time and energy to plant 408,000 trees in 1,200 spaces right across the UK. We couldn t have been happier with I Dig Trees first year, as 158,000 saplings are now finding their roots in a green space near you. But this year has been even more incredible! Thanks to our Greener Energy customers and everyone who got their hands dirty, 250,000 new trees are now breathing life into Britain. over its lifetime

3 Steady Preparing to plant 250,000 trees We had five trees to plant for every Greener Energy customer that s two more than last year! Since I Dig Trees is one of the UK s largest planting initiatives, we then needed all hands on deck and that s where our partnership with TCV came in. They rallied an incredible workforce of volunteers who selflessly gave their time and muscles to get those saplings in the ground. Our plan for planting We needed to start digging during the bare root season, which runs from November to March, to give our trees the best chance of survival. So we got to work... Connecting with community groups across the country We chose some reception age children to do the planting as they ll be with us for about seven years in total and will be able to see their efforts grow in their time with us. Mike Randles, William Shrewsbury Primary School We hope that the initiative inspires and educates people about the benefits that planting trees bring to their communities and communal green spaces. Steve Catanach, Amersham Town Council Hopefully there will be more homes for the slow worm and his friends to live when the trees establish themselves Louise Barker, Shiloh School A pack for every patch We created a range of packs to suit different spaces. PARKLAND Large Garden Small Garden Wildlife & Shrubs Silver Birch Hornbeam Green Beech English Oak Small Leaved Lime LARGE GARDEN Common Alder Downy Birch Rowan Wild Cherry Norway Maple SMALL GARDEN Field Maple Common Crab Apple Bird Cherry Grey Willow Rowan WILDLIFE & SHRUBS Common Dogwood Hawthorn Blackthorn Goat Willow Guelder Rose

4 Grow Planting for the future What a difference a few months can make... during the bare root season, we planted 250,000 trees up and down Britain. That s enough to cover 300 full-sized football fields! Every tree on this map represents one of the many sites where our trees will be growing for decades to come. Scotland 29,650 North 37,000 North 3,250 Yorkshire 51,550 We dug deep to make a difference Wales 29,050 Midlands 5,600 Midlands 15,200 Anglia 6, ,000 trees distributed and planted across the UK different community groups joined in 700 different sites were planted 1,360,000 sq metres covered by newly planted trees 19,150 3,500 Coast 6,950 London 16,450 26, ,000 11,900 71,400 5,000 tonnes of CO 2 saved 2 volunteers took part 3 hours of volunteer time 4 packs of mixed variety trees 1 Only UK provenance trees used all planted with a stake and guard. 2 Assumes 50% survival rate and annual CO2 saving of one tonne from an adult tree over its lifetime. 3 Assumes 17 volunteers per site likely to be much higher given school participation. 4 Assumes 6 hours per day for each volunteer. We received our trees and had a fantastic planting day. It was a wet, windy, cold day but a really warm atmosphere with families planting particular areas so that the children can revisit over years to come to see how their part of the woodland is progressing. Penelope Davies, Blaen Bran Community Woodland Want to discover more?

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