The Baum Challenge started out in Germany, encouraging towns to connect with each other through a quasi-twinning chain of nominations to challenge them to plant a tree within seven days of being put forward. It has taken root across the continent and has reached all over the UK.
Melksham town mayor Saffi Rabey grew up in the island, and when fellow Wiltshire town Bradford-upon-Avon nominated hers, she knew exactly where she wanted to pass the baton to next.
‘In turn I challenged my beautiful home island of Guernsey and the wonderful town of Calne,’ she said.
‘The challenge is spreading all across Europe, and we’re really hoping you can spread this across the country,’ she said, and looked forward to seeing the island’s tree on her next visit.
Now with the challenge having reached Guernsey, planter Adrian Gabriel wanted to connect fellow Crown Dependencies to the initiative, reaching out to Jersey and the Isle of Man.
‘We nominated them so that we can continue with our friendship and with networking in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly way,' said Deputy Gabriel.
‘It’s important to show that we care for our environment and that we’re looking to other shores as well to help share that.'
Guernsey Trees for Life sourced the oak sapling, and planned to incorporate the planting into its LiberTree80 initiative. The project aims to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the island’s liberation by planting 80 trees in conjunction with various parishes and community groups.
Trees for Life technical officer and States environmental land manager Andy McCutcheon was present at the planting, where he expressed hope that the oak would go towards supporting the biodiversity of its new home, the KGV memorial garden.
‘A lot of different creatures live on oaks, and that’s obviously a very good thing,' he said.
‘We’re not blessed with a huge amount of space in Guernsey, so it’s a question of picking the spots and making sure we get the tree in the right place.
‘The Baum Challenge was born out of this idea that communities can get together across Europe to do something about climate change, to mitigate its worst effects and to help with adaptation to the inevitable changes that we see in the climate over the next few decades.’
The tree can be found at the memorial garden along the nature trail, where it will be looked after by KGV groundsman Pete de Mouilpied, who picked out the best place to put it to avoid the young sapling becoming overexposed to the elements or becoming drowned by the area’s boggy environment.
‘Fingers crossed, I’d like to think within a year you’ll see it start to really thicken out,’ he said.
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