A PIONEERING community project to survey trees throughout Petersfield has won a prestigious county award.

Representatives of the Petersfield Society, which co-ordinated the i-Tree Eco Survey Project, received the winner’s accolade in the community and voluntary category of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Hampshire 2018 Countryside Awards from the Lord Lieutenant, Nigel Atkinson, at a ceremony in Winchester.

The project, which involved 43 volunteer surveyors, assessed the species, size, health and canopy cover of the town’s trees. Two hundred landowners allowed access to their properties and 20,000 pieces of information were gathered.

The survey results were published by the Petersfield Society in a 64-page report, funded by district and county councillors through the community grant scheme and by Petersfield Town Council.

The partnership work, led and carried out by the community with the local expertise of Petersfield Society and national expertise of Forest Research, was supported by the South Downs Volunteer Ranger Service, East Hampshire District Council, Petersfield Town Council and South Downs National Park Authority whose chairman Margaret Paren said: “It is work such as this which provides the vital evidence base from which we can manage our environment both for its own sake and for the vital services it gives us such as clean water, food and space to breathe.”

A trustee of the Petersfield Society and the project manager, Dr Andy Moffatt, said: “I must thank all volunteers without whom the project could not have been undertaken, in particular, Robin Hart, the Tree Council Petersfield tree warden, who surveyed all 177 publicly-owned trees in the town’s conservation area.”

The community award was sponsored by The Southern Co-operative and judged by its director of sustainability and communications, Gemma Lacey, and its community investment manager, Jessica Hughes, who said: “The Petersfield Society tree survey, driven solely by volunteers, has touched the whole community and provided a robust and comprehensive view of the environmental, social and economic value the trees of Petersfield contribute to their community.

“This citizen science initiative will play an important role in influencing green infrastructure planning.”