with lots of growth on top but bare at the bottom that lets the wind whistle through offering little for wildlife and the human population alike. The project will be more environmentally friendly with the use of biodegradable spiral guards to protect the small whip sized plants from rabbits. Supplied by a UK firm Green-tech, they are new to the market and the Island and will greatly reduce the amount of plastic that is discarded in the natural environment. Once the spirals degrade into the soil in four to five years they are broken down into harmless polymers and lactic acid by micro-organisms and eventually into a small amount of CO₂, water and humus. This ground-breaking material has been awarded international recognition and product accreditation for protection to the environment. Undoubtedly this pilot project has been a bit of a steep learning curve especially given the challenges of planting so much earlier in the season, but it has excelled our
expectations in so many ways, including the amount of hedgerow planting that has been achieved in such a short period of time. It goes without saying that we are enormously grateful to our partners, funders, staff, volunteers and by no means least, the landowners, who have enthusiastically embraced the whole project. Thoughts are already turning to the planting season for 2020/2021 and our Hedgerow Gift scheme has successfully raised £4,000 towards year two of the project. However, there is still a lot to achieve and if you would like to help with the project then please consider becoming a planting or maintenance volunteer, or alternatively purchase some metres of hedgerow as a gift for friends and family. It would be amazing to think that within five years we could have planted over 50 miles of hedgerows in Jersey.
(Below) JCV / Standard Bank staff at work / a newly planted hedge at Faldouet, St Martin
hedge fund dividends The planting of native hedging and trees will first and foremost improve the landscape by enhancing the small and compact patchwork nature of the fields and reinforcing boundaries and historical features. Gapping up fragmented hedges will increase connectivity which will be beneficial to numerous species of bird, insect, mammal and invertebrates that will use the additional hedging and trees to their advantage for habitat, breeding sites, food source and safety from predators. The agricultural community will also benefit from the project due to the increase in crop production, reduction in soil erosion, filtering of particulate are pollution and making field boundaries more stock proof and robust. Although it is a medium to long-term benefit, the planting of trees and hedging will also lock up CO₂ from the atmosphere, in line with the Island’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint. Mature hedges are effectively rows of mini pollarded trees with a length of 100m sequestering 120kg of carbon dioxide a year whilst also offering the other benefits previously mentioned.
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