FOR the first time in living memory, a festive tree is taking pride of place on the village green at Pennal.

The tree is part of Pennal 2050, an ambitious landscape project which aims to enable adaptive strategy and action in tackling the effects of climate change, build resilient and resourceful residents and test ideas to boost social and economic well-being in rural areas.

Partneriaeth Pennal, a group of innovative farmers, is the lead organisation in Pennal 2050- a four year collaborative project which has the support of Natural Resources Wales, Snowdonia National Park and Gwynedd County Council as well as local organisations and businesses.

Schoolchildren from the adjacent Ysgol Gynradd Pennal helped to plant the 18ft high Nordmann tree that was purchased and planted in partnership between Pennal 2050, Pennal Community Council and Derwen Garden Centre, and with lights donated by the Pennal Agricultural Show Committee and with support of the Pennal Canolfan Committee.

“Thanks so much for this and involving the next generation,” said headteacher Helen Newell-Jones.

Alwyn Rees of Partneriaeth Pennal added: “The tree is part of our project’s sustainable tree-planting efforts and we felt it would also bring some smiles and festive cheer to the community.

“A big thank-you is due to all involved including Andy and Kathy Joseph, owners of Derwen Nursery and their staff who looked after this tree for its first 17 years of life. Thanks to the local builders Will and Colin, as well as others who helped to sort out the site, put up the tree and contribute to a successful planting and switching on of the colourful lights chosen by the pupils.”

Meirion Roberts, chair of Pennal Community Council and also a member of Partneriaeth Pennal said: “We plan to use the tree in on-going education and community awareness-raising all year-long, and want to decorate it in ways that highlight the need to protect nature and biodiversity and in order to combat the effects of climate change, a responsibility that will also fall to our next generations.”

Already pupils have been involved in Pennal 2050’s tree and hedge planting, fresh water invertebrate monitoring to assess the health of local rivers as well as bird and butterfly spotting in community walks.

They have also learned more about how Maths is used to convert “big data” numbers to maps in order to calculate the potential for carbon storage in the area, reduce flooding by tree-planting and water storage, and areas where wildlife corridors (eg hedges ) would bring best results.

They are soon to be monitoring rainfall in a research study being run by Bangor University.

The research will explore how tree canopies absorb rain so reducing run-off into rivers that might lead to flooding. It will encourage children to think about how to apply Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths in solving everyday problems and encourage interest in the areas for future employment or enterprise.

Other strands of the Pennal 2050 project, which will bring an average of £200k funding into the area’s communities and economy each year, include Ecosteps - ways of ensuring clean water and reducing acidity of land and rivers as well as ecological monitoring; SloFlo - the use of natural resources to reduce rain run-off in the Dyfi sub-catchment; Healthy moors -seeking to encourage cattle grazing on higher land and testing traditional and modern methods to reduce bracken and VisitPennal – a tourism initiative to benefit the local economy and celebrate its landscape, people, wildlife, history, culture and language.

Pennal 2050 is a Sustainable Management Scheme project, funded by the Welsh Government Rural Communities’ Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.