More than 19,400 additional trees in the municipality of Eersel: results of planting season 2023-2024

In Eersel, we’re working together on a green and healthy district for people, animals and nature! Last season, thanks to our donors, we were able to plant 19,416 trees and shrubs throughout the municipality in Brabant.

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Greening the municipality of Eersel

The municipality of Eersel in the province of North Brabant has the ambitious goal of planting no fewer than 400,000 trees before 2030. And at Trees for All, we’re only too happy to help with such a fine green ambition! Thanks to the support of our donors, we made a start in the 2022-2023 planting season by planting 46,862 trees and shrubs. Last winter, we continued the good work by adding a further 19,416 trees and shrubs.

The planting in Eersel is divided into three themes: 1) planting new forest, 2) restoring existing forest, and 3) planting landscape elements (trees and hedgerows). In this update, we tell you how the trees from last planting season are getting on!

On 1 February 2024, together with the municipality of Eersel and our corporate forest partners, we planted new forest along Boterpad in Wintelre

1. New forest in Brabant

We’ve planted new forests at nine different locations in the municipality of Eersel. The forests were created on former agricultural land owned by the municipality. A total of 9,592 trees were planted on 2.67 hectares of land.

One of the planting locations is along the Boterpad in Wintelre, where our corporate partners rolled their own sleeves up at an energetic tree planting day on 1 February 2024. At the end of the day, over 1,400 trees had gone into the ground! Afterwards, the municipality of Eersel finished off the planting work.

On this piece of land along the Boterpad, we’re creating a natural woodland edge with shrubs and a few trees, which will benefit birds, insects and small mammals. For example, the strip of land was planted with shrubs that produce a lot of nectar and bear berries in the autumn.

The trees are growing well!

The new forest in Wintelre is growing well in general! Some species have found it more difficult, like the beech and hornbeam, and sometimes the sweet chestnut. Around 10-15% didn’t survive. One possible reason for the loss is the heavy ‘used-up’ soil. The land has been used for agriculture for many years, meaning the soil has become depleted and hard.

Fortunately, planting the trees will actually improve the soil quality. The leaves that fall on the ground and decompose will provide a good layer of organic matter, ensuring more nutrients in the soil and revitalising the soil life. The tree roots will increase the permeability of the soil and ensure that water can infiltrate more quickly. Over the course of time, this will create a healthy forest ecosystem!

More biodiversity

Through new forests like the one along the Boterpad, we link up existing natural areas in the neighbourhood. This creates bigger, unbroken natural areas and expands the habitats of all sorts of plants and wildlife. And we’re already seeing the results. Some places now have a slightly richer herbal vegetation, for example at the Mostheuvel planting location, where plants like birdsfoot trefoil, wild carrot, yarrow, common ragwort, tansy, St John’s wort and evening primrose are coming up. We’re also seeing the spontaneous emergence of goat willow and eared willow.

2. Reforestation

Besides planting new forests, we’re also restoring existing forests, in partnership with the municipality of Eersel, as there are several monoculture forests in the Brabant district. These forests consist of one or just a few species of tree, making them vulnerable to drought, disease and pests. Moreover, some trees have died or disappeared over the years and never been replanted. That’s about to change through our project!

Last season, we planted in spots that used to be covered in Norway spruce. In the past, these forests were created largely for the production of wood. But recently, it appeared that these trees were not resistant to climate change, and many Norway spruce trees didn’t survive the dry summers and stormy days.

A varied, future-proof forest

We’re therefore adding a variety of deciduous trees in the midst of these monoculture forests. In total, we’re planting 23 different species of tree, including small-leaved lime, hornbeam, trembling aspen, wild cherry, blackthorn, sessile oak, goat willow and hazel. These species are native to the Brabant surroundings, making these forests considerably more diverse and the surrounding forests more resistant to climate change. If one species gets into trouble, then the other trees and shrubs keep the forest going.

These species also form an attractive habitat for plants and wildlife, so the planting gives a big boost to biodiversity! And finally, the trees we’ve planted will disperse their seeds in the surroundings in the future. So in the long term, new species of tree will be able to grow in places where the forests are still monocultures.

Restoring existing forests by planting a variety of deciduous trees

“It hasn’t been this wet in 50 years!”

In December, all 3,200 trees were planted by hand, spread over three hectares. And it was no easy job. There was very heavy rainfall both in winter and in spring. “It hasn’t been this wet in 50 years!” said the municipality. This meant that the planting locations were flooded for a long time.

Fortunately though, despite all the water, we didn’t lose many trees. Less than 5% in fact. Only the wild cherry had problems with wet feet. It seems this species is least resistant to a lot of water. In the coming period, the municipality will keep a close eye on how all that water influences the various species.

Protection against deer

Bamboo stakes have been placed around the saplings, so that deer can’t rub up against the trunks. By rubbing, they mark out their territory. They prefer young trees because they’re still very pliable. The bamboo stakes stop the deer being able to bend the thin trunks, so we can prevent damage from rubbing.

3. Landscape elements

This project is not just about creating forests, but also about reinforcing the landscape. We do so by planting and restoring landscape elements, which include things like hedges, rows of trees, windbreaks and copses. These landscape elements are important for biodiversity, as they attract all sorts of plants and wildlife. They also link up natural areas, making it easier for wildlife and plants to disperse and breed.

We’re planting new landscape elements and restoring existing ones. For example, we’re filling in empty spaces in the landscape and linking up existing natural areas. In addition, landscape elements contribute to carbon sequestration, healthy soil and better water management, as well as forming attractive surroundings!

More greenery in the Brabant countryside: an extra 4.7 hectares!

In December, no fewer than 6,624 trees and shrubs were planted by hand, which means that an extra 4.7 hectares of greenery has been added to the rural area of the municipality of Eersel. The good news is that the trees and shrubs we’ve planted are doing really well! Only a small number (less than 5%) appear to have been lost due to the high water levels and damage from deer (see photo on the right), although most of the trees and shrubs will probably recover well.

After the planting, the municipality will take care of the maintenance. It’s not only our new plants that are growing well, but also other plants, like herbs. To ensure they don’t shade out the new trees and shrubs, competing plants like brambles and black cherry are removed. So ‘our trees’ get sufficient light to be able to grow unimpeded.