City of Trees launches series of free natural world webinars

Environmental consultant City of Trees has announced a series of monthly webinars for both families and adults for 2021, with the aim of keeping people connected to nature safely during the pandemic.

From butterflies and blossom to foraging and folklore, the free sessions will cover a myriad of topics taking inspiration from the natural world. The sessions will be led by the team at City of Trees, a movement aiming to plant millions of trees across Greater Manchester, as well as bringing in other experts and notable speakers.

The webinars begin on Wednesday 17 February with an interactive evening session on tree identification, aimed at both adults and young people.

Sarah Nurton from City of Trees said: “The aim of the sessions are to connect people to nature whilst we’re all still safely at home – taking inspiration from the beauty and wonder of the natural world and bringing it to people - wherever they are”.

Future sessions include an International Women’s Day event, hosted by BBC, Channel 5 and Radio 4 presenter Lindsey Chapman, in conversation with Rhiane Fatinikun, founder of Black Girls Hike.

April will see a ‘Science of Blossom’ event and a guided mindfulness session in May will take place to mark Mental Health Awareness week.

In June, award-winning Manchester sketcher, writer and photographer Len Grant leads an urban sketching session for adults.

The Big Butterfly Count has inspired a webinar in July on the importance of woodlands for supporting butterflies, with butterfly bingo and more.

August will be host to ‘Tree-LC’ workshop about how to care for our existing trees and woods and September celebrates seed sowing and growing.

Foraging superstar Dave Winnard from Discover the Wild will discuss top tips on discovering marvellous mushrooms to tie in with Fungus Day in October.

November will see a session on the amazing benefits of our trees and December will end the year with a festive event on The History and Folklore of Christmas trees.

The sessions will be held on zoom with a live stream of the events on the City of Trees facebook page or recorded and hosted on their YouTube channel.

The online events are free to attend, but City of Trees is asking people to make a donation where possible via their website – www.cityoftrees.org.uk/donate.

For more information, visit www.cityoftrees.org.uk/events.