the CAP Conch

The CAP Conch is the @carbonaware instagram account and where we share our project news, promote wild events & post snapshots of the natural world in all its glory that make us giggle, moved or inspired. Got something similar you'd like to share? Share it and tag #CAPconch to weave them all together.

Small Print: Stay relevant & stay kind (not that unbridled wildlife trolling is a thing or expected but you never know right!)

Proud to be showcasing at @sustainablefilm ‘s dedicated trade exhibition at @pinewoodstudios today. They have brought together a brilliant array of businesses working hard in the sustainability sector for film & tv.

The event is at X Stage, Pinewood Studios, both iconic and cool! Having
production teams, electrical departments, locations managers, and
sustainability leads under one roof is incredibly useful and heartening. So much hard work from so many passionate folk working in this growing and important sector. If you can, come and see #sustainablefilm #reduceemissions #planttrees 🌿🪩♥️

Happy solstice ♥️💕♥️ #aveburystones #capconch #lovenature #carbonaware

Calling all tree lovers 🍂🍃there are 10 tickets left for the brilliant Somerset Conference of the Trees next Friday 12th June. If you’re interested in trees, forestry, ecology & natural building or simply want to connect with all things ‘tree’ then snap up a ticket whilst you can. Link is in the flyer. The conference is in an apple orchard and brings together foresters, thinkers and vested interests for a session of talks, workshops and big-picture conversations about forests, mycelium, nature connection, politics and regenerative ways of living and building. Lots to love ♥️ #CarbonAwarePeople #CAPConch #planttrees🌱

Babies!! You’ve got to love spring for its baby boom right? 🐥🌱💦 #wildmoments #capconch #citizenecology #planttrees #carbonaware

My word what a hero. @davidattenborough #happybirthday #davidattenborough 💫🌸♥️

Wow I love spring. Thank you @peter_nyssen for your deliciously beautiful bulbs 🌸💕🌺 this is becoming a bit of an annual highlight 🙏

Another 700 CAP funded trees are in 🙌 and sinking roots into a farmland ridge to extend woodland and slow the flow of water as it runs down to the flood prone Somerset Levels. A huge thanks to our planting partners @reimaginingthelevels and to our generous funders @faragoprojects @deniseshenton @academyfilms and @blankco.uk. It feels good to be forging steadily onwards with tree planting in this increasingly flip flopppy world. Roots in, buds growing, sun peaking through… and breathe… 🌿🌼🧘‍♂️

Woohoo 🙌 for snow days ❄️☃️ Hard to imagine Saturday existed now we’re back to brown mud & drizzle ☹️

Such a beauty of an NY walk down the canal led to a sad sight… 🦊 poor little thing must have drowned trying to cross thin ice 🧊😢 oddly such a captivating and beautiful sight #ripfox

🌲🌲🌲Cash cropping trees in Scotland is an established and growing part of the landscape. Last week we joined our lovely partners @eadhaenterprises who are planting 3,400 CAP funded broadleaf trees🌿🍂within a 4.5 hectare conifer plantation to help soften the impact of the next tree crop. The trees will help boost cover & provide forage for wildlife 🕸🦡🐞🐾🦋 and give walkers🚶‍♂️pathways to enjoy. Tree species will include Sessile Oak, Hazel, Rowan, Eared Willow, Juniper & the rare and hard to grow Aspen 💫🍁 Eadha Enterprises are specialists in growing rare aspen clones, producing thousands to support woodland creation and restoration projects. Aspen is uncommon because it flowers irregularly and is irresistible to 🐑 + 🦌. As a social enterprise, Eadha also brings together community volunteers, corporate teams and people of all ages from nearby Glasgow to take part in rejuvenating hands-on planting days. Without the funds these projects can't happen, so as ever our thanks goes to @deniseshenton @fresh_locations @showbites @neutrinofilms @somesuchandco @scoutproductions @biscuit.filmworks @kington_toilet_hire @academyfilms @wearegirlandbear 💚#planttrees

And now a healthy 6,500 CAP funded trees are starting life under the watchful eye of our attentive planting partners at @treesforlifeuk a stone's throw from Loch Ness 🤸‍♀️🌿🍁💫 They are currently spread through the various stages of stratification, germination, growing in polytunnels & hardening up at the @visitdundreggan tree nursery preparing for planting out in the spring when the ground is softer. These trees are bobbing along their life journeys thanks to the incredibly generous funds from @Greenshoot @motherlondon @fresh_locations @scoutproductions @deniseshentonproductions @hungrymaninc @neutrinofilms @kington_toilet_hire @biscuit.filmworks @fuseprodco @artpractice.studio joejames @baselocation @academyfilms @smugglersite and those production companies that are funding tree planting through @scoutproductions. The term "climate change" generally carries a sense of dread & impending doom! But seeing the tree planting that our incredible partners are swinging into action, it feels uplifting, exciting, full of promise & new life #planttrees 🦔🌱🐿💫🍂

Planting Season is here 🤸‍♂️ and the first 3,000 CAP funded trees have gone in to Ham Hill Country Park 🍁🌿💫 Planting teams led by the Somerset Council (headed up by the indefatigable Paul McNeill🌟) planted over the week through myriad weather systems. This was project was made possible thanks to generous funds from @stinkfilms @prodcofficial @biscuit.filmworks @academyfilms & @bbh with special thanks as ever to our partners (and planters) at @scoutproductions #planttrees #plantingseason We are incredibly excited about it!

Winter Trees 🍁🍂🕸✨ in the CAP field. Five years old & looking rather lovely🍃🐞🌿🦔 #plant #carbonaware

‘Tis the season for squirrelling nuts 🌰 🍂 Over the last few weeks volunteers from our brilliant planting partners at @treesforlifeuk and from the @woodlandtrust have been scooping up bumper crops of acorns, hazel, alder, elder and hawthorn seeds 🐿✨on the Western Isles in Scotland.

These tiny nutty powerhouses are now being carefully stratified (kept in ideal conditions to encourage germination) ready to sprout into strong young trees by Spring 2026–2027. 🌱

Why gather local seeds? Because they carry the unique genetics of the Scottish landscape - tough, resilient and perfectly adapted to thrive in wild Highland weather. 💪🌦

Once grown into healthy young whips, they’ll be planted across the Highlands to restore native woodland and breathe life back into the once Great Caledonian Forest. 🌳💚

A massive thank you as ever to CAP’s generous clients who are funding this -
@motherlondon @greenshoot @scoutproductions @fresh_locations @dsp @hungrymaninc @biscuit.filmworks @offbeatldn @smugglersite @kington_toilet_hire @neutrinofilms @janemossman @academyfilms @baselocation @fuseprodco @artpractice.studio plus many others who have funded via collaboration with @scoutproductions. Together it has funded 6,500 trees to be planted by @treesforlifeuk🌲🙌 #planttrees #seedgathering #highlands #rewilding #climateaction

Winter’s Tree Planting Season is almost here 🍁🤸🍂 and this year we’re chuffed to bits that @carbonaware has an incredible 🌟 20,000 TREES 💫 ready to begin their new life 🌿 🌱. As ever, it's only made possible by our generous funders & we’re deeply grateful for their support 🙏🔥 We will be working with 5 fantastic planting partners @treesforlifeuk @forestofmarstonvale @eadha @hamhillcountrypark and @themerseyforest_official reforesting the once great Caledonian Forest, restoring woodland in Bedfordshire, breathing life into former rough grazing & around the fringes of commercial woodland in Renfrewshire, bridging two pockets for woodland in boost dormouse🐭 territory at Ham Hill in Somerset and rewilding farmland outside Liverpool 🌱🌿. Planting will kick off in November during National Tree🌲 week 22 - 30 November in Somerset. Get in touch if you want to get mud under your nails and that ruddy colour in your cheeks! Details above 😊. Photos © Trees for Life © Chris Aldridge © Paul Campbell © Joseph Greenlees #planttrees🌱

This is so great. The Argyle Street Ash in Glasgow that has won #treeoftheyear2025. David Treanor from Gasgow who manages it nailed how mind blowing the tree is…
* It’s 175 years old
* It’s watched horse drawn carriages 🦓 through to Teslas and white vans 🚚
* It’s older than the light bulb💡😮
It makes the mind boggle at what our old trees🌳have stood by and seen. They are the only living things that link us so completely through history, to our ancestors, to family who may have gone. It made me think of the Yew tree at my parent’s home which saw us as babies, my parent’s so young. Saw me grow, marry and then pop my own children in prams under it for shade in summer. It must have been around for well over 150 years, so it will have also seen the kind of life we oggle at in period dramas. Simple, candle lit, fussy🕯! Some yew trees can live for 1000 years 🙃 Oaks can reach 300 years old, pear trees 250. It’s hard to get your head around what they link us to. A lovely pic from the 1900s brings the link to life #lovethesetrees #oldboys #oldgirls

Dormouse survey at the stunning @hamhillcountrypark on a sunny morning last week with Paul McNeill & the girls 🤎

Thanks to @stinkfilms and a number of other forward thinking production companies, @carbonaware will be planting 3000 trees here in Nov this year. This new patch of woodland 🌱 will bridge two pockets of existing woodland which have dormouse populations.

We sadly didn’t find any in the 50+ boxes that we checked but it wasn’t a huge surprise due to the UK’s hot dry summer and the stress that would have put on them. We did however find a family of wood mice 🐁 🍂 🤎

Dormice are slow and finding food 🌰 & water 💦 would have made them vulnerable to predators. Not finding them does not mean they aren’t present, but it does likely mean their numbers are currently low.

Nature 🍂 🍁 🍃 is incredible however! In response to such a hot dry summer the woodland fruit 🫐 & nut 🥜 trees have entered panic mode (we’ve all been there) are now throwing out bumper crops of produce in the hope of propagating. This will give surviving small mammals 🦔 🐁 🐿️ the boost they need to fatten up ready for the winter. A final dormouse survey will take place end of November to track developments. The natural world is just so clever 🫐🌰🍁🐭 #planttrees

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the CAP Conch

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"As the old adage goes, the best time to plant trees was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."