New Interactive Tree Trail

Cambridge City Council has launched a new interactive tree trail to encourage people to discover more about the trees around them.

The first of several planned trails in the city has been introduced at the popular Cherry Hinton Hall park – known for hosting the annual Cambridge Folk Festival and for being home to many interesting and unusual trees.

The tree trail is approximately 1500 metres in length and features more than 50 different trees spread throughout the park.  People wishing to follow the trail simply need to visit www.chh.treetrail.co.uk the new website which has been specially optimised for using on smartphones or tablets.

The site reveals interesting and unusual facts about each tree on the trail, such as:

• The Double Flowered White Cherry Tree, which secretes a sweet substance which attracts ants that then defend the tree against caterpillars trying to eat its foliage,
• The Dawn Redwood, a ‘living fossil’ which dates back to the Mesozoic era (65million to 248million years ago) and was believed to be extinct before being ‘rediscovered’ in China in 1941

The site has been developed by Urban Green, a Manchester-based arboriculture and environmental design practice who worked with Cambridge-based Still Vision Photography to capture images of each tree in early summer.

The project aims to raise awareness of the role that urban trees can play and to encourage people to get outside and enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of spending time in nature.

The council has a tree strategy to boost and protect the estimated 240,000 trees in the city by managing existing trees, including heritage and veteran examples, and planting new trees.

Cambridge Filmworks have captured the trees using stunning UAV aerial filming, giving the viewer a birds eye view of the trail.

To find out more please visit: www.chh.treetrail.co.uk