Jersey Trees for Life launches online Val de la Mare tree map

Now live, this feature enables viewers to find core information about every standing tree, living or dead, and to take a birds-eye view of the arboretum and each tree collection in its entirety.

Crucially the map will also provide data for onsite conservation work, with information including location coordinates, photos and further details including conservation status.

This project’s completion makes Val de la Mare Arboretum the second of Jersey Trees for Life’s managed woodlands to be mapped online, following the separate launch last year of a similar map of Adelina Wood in St Helier. The charity aims to do likewise for its other woodlands, including the Alder Collection in St Brelade. All groundwork to date has been executed by Katherine Dunn, a local MSc graduate in Island Biodiversity.

Alex Morel (pictured), Jersey Trees for Life CEO, commented: “I’m delighted to be able to share with the public botanical information about all our trees at Val de la Mare Arboretum. People can now learn our trees’ names, where they’re from and when they were planted, all by using their mobile phone. The next stage of showcasing the remarkable trees in our collections is to put up botanical labels so that visitors can recognise our redwoods, eucalyptuses, maples and birches.”

She continued: “A lot of people and organisations have come together to make this happen. We’d like to thank Jersey Community Foundation for its support in funding this project, Snap for its technical support in getting the map online, MailMate for printing our botanical labels and of course Katherine, who spent the summer at Val de la Mare auditing the trees.”

Jersey Community Foundation CEO, Anna Terry, added: “Knowing the emphasis placed on education by Jersey Trees for Life, and of course appreciating the arboretum’s popularity, we see this as an important environmental project that we’re proud to support.”