Last December GoodGymers helped Earthwatch Europe plant a new Tiny Forest in Hanger Hill Park. You can see how small the snips had been back then in this story! What is Tiny Forest, you may ask. It is a native woodland of 600 trees planted densely in a tennis-court-sized plot. Tiny Forests mimic the features of a traditional forest while taking up minimal space. Earthwatch is conducting research across the country to help understand how these little woods have the potential to be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change and habitat loss.

To help our partners from Earthwatch, five Ealing GoodGymers: Claire, Freya, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash turned scientists for one evening to collect data on how the trees were growing and how much carbon they could capture. The endeavour involved plenty of tape measures and an uphill run!

It was the first Ealing session for Freya, who returned to London (and GoodGym) after a long break and established herself in our area. Great choice, Freya - and welcome to Ealing!

After the optional 2.5km run to conquer Hanger Hill, the task was pretty easy-going. It didn't require getting particularly physical - unless you count squatting to measure the diameter of a tree. That gave Kash an idea about tonight's fitness session - the Sally Up squat challenge! Check it out here if you haven't heard about it.

Another challenge was identifying some of the trees that didn't look like we were expecting them to look. Their tag said holly, but the Google Lens said eucalyptus.

Is there a koala on it?
No.
Then it's not an eucalyptus.

The samples didn't look anything like the above. The Earthwatch survey prompt suggested another option: goat willow. We looked the name up on the internet and found pictures of similarly looking trees to our sample, also called pussy willow or salix caprea. That seemed more sensible than Aussie trees in the UK.

After surveying most of the tagged trees and completing the Sally Up challenge, we treated ourselves to a gentle 1.5 km run down the hill, wondering how satisfied our legs would feel tomorrow.

Join us next week for a task in Hanwell, with a totally optional run, to help organisers of the famous free festival, Hanwell Hootie. Sign up now!

Kash and friends joined Earthwatch in planting their third Ealing Tiny Forest this year - the Hanger Hill Park Tiny Forest! It will become the closest Tiny Forest to Ealing Broadway (a group run task material?). Despite the overcast and a light drizzle, the team was full of energy and did so well that the last 200 trees to plant had to be hidden behind Earthwatch's van to save some planting fun for the 1 pm session. The group then switched to mulching, which was quite straightforward, with the tonne bags with mulch placed strategically inside the planting area.

After the fantastic effort, the Earthwatch team treated the volunteers to tea and biscuits. Kash's team then took a break before the 1 pm planting shift, having a stroll around North Ealing, possibly finding a cosy local pub on the way.

It was revitalising to be able to contribute positively to the environment, what with increasing impact of global warming and to also become a tree parent. I look forward to watching the trees grow and will be visiting them in 3 months and more to see the progress. (Attached is a before photo)