Tree planting planned to mark inaugural year of Rewilding Harborough project

The tree will be planted in mid-December and volunteers, partners and other parties will be invited to attend. Details of who will plant the tree will be announced nearer the time.

The council’s Rewilding Harborough project aims to restore nature on 130 acres of land to the north of Market Harborough and Great Bowden, bringing benefits to wildlife, people and communities. It is a project expected to be of national significance. The council’s purchase has been a catalyst for wider partner involvement which has already brought the total rewilding project to over 500 acres.

With the support of Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and other stakeholders, the Market Harborough Rewilding Project will work to restore a nature-depleted area, reestablishing natural processes and building a network of nature sites where wildlife can thrive.

People will be at the heart of this project, with the site being publicly accessible and the creation of opportunities for learning, skills training and the wider benefits that enjoying nature can bring.

Cllr Phil Knowles, Leader of Harborough District Council, said: “The Rewilding Harborough project will be a lasting legacy for generations to come, and the planting of a tree seems an appropriate way of marking the year that this initiative began. Rewilding Harborough will be a catalyst for a strategic partnership that will rewild around 500 acres of nature-depleted countryside in total, protecting it as public open space and bringing nature back to the area. 2025 will go down in local history and maybe in time national history as the year it all began!”