A WATCHDOG is branching out in a bid to make Petersfield a greener and healthier town for future generations.

The Petersfield Society wants the public’s help to establish where new trees should be planted on the town’s public land.

The group learned in their 2017 iTree survey that Petersfield has lower than average tree cover and many of its specimens are under threat.

The Petersfield Society Tree Location Survey aims to address those issues by highlighting the need for new and existing trees in the town.

It will also help to give new trees a greater chance of survival and get more residents to nurture and appreciate their presence.

The development follows news that East Hampshire District Council has pledged to plant 120,000 trees to fight climate change, while political parties have made similar General Election pledges.

The Tree Location Project is a key one as the results will be presented to local and national governments to encourage effective tree planting both locally and further afield.

The Petersfield Society is looking for volunteers to join their “profoundly important” project with work likely to begin next month.

Volunteers should expect plenty of hands-on work in the environment with small teams measuring biological factors like soil PH levels and assessing practical constraints like utility infrastructure and sightlines.

“One of the main recommendations of the iTree Survey project report was many areas of Petersfield would benefit from a greater tree cover,” said project manager, Dr Andy Moffat.

“The extra cover would provide cooling, shade and interception of rain, noise and air pollution, for example.

“We are now planning another community-led project to find out which areas of publicly-owned land in Petersfield have the capacity to support more trees.

“We hope to begin this work towards the end of 2019, using volunteer surveyors as we did so successfully in the tree survey.

“The work involved will not be onerous, hopefully enjoyable, and it will really help us demonstrate the capacity for more trees and identify where individual trees could be planted.”

Full training will be provided to those taking part in the project. Anyone interested in volunteering should e-mail: trees@petersfield society.org.uk