Join in with this new citizen science project set up by the ‘Forest Plastics Working Group’ to build a UK wide map of where plastic tree guards are within the environment.

Tree guards can be essential for helping trees establish by protecting them from browsing animals such as deer and rabbits, sheltering them from other damage and making them visible whilst they grow. The issue however, comes from when plastic tree guards are left in the environment for too long and forgotten about. This then leads to plastic pollution. A tree guard is expected to be on a tree for around five to seven years before they complete their job at protecting the tree and can be removed and disposed of correctly.

The aim of this project is to build a data set of where plastic tree guards are located within the landscape to help:

• Raise awareness of this type of environmental plastic
• Educate people on the need for tree protection, but the issues of leaving plastic in the environment.
• Share the data collected to other relevant organisations and people to aid the future removal of the guards and facilitate new recycling hub locations.

Here is a link to the survey website:
https://www.forestplasticsworkinggroup.co.uk/plotthatplastic

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