Lewes wins international recognition as an Arboretum town

The Friends of Lewes is delighted to announce that the world-wide ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Programme has awarded the town of Lewes ‘Level 1 Arboretum status’.

ArbNet’s international programme aims to advance the planting, study, and conservation of trees by providing standards and guidelines for the establishment and development of arboretums.

Almost all accredited arboretums are individual gardens and sites. Unusually, our Lewes Urban Arboretum status extends across the whole of the town of Lewes, one of only two UK towns with this rating alongside Sidmouth. The criteria which contributed to our award included our Lewes Urban Arboretum Project’s plans and organisation, its volunteer support, and the number of different species of trees planted: 47 different species across Lewes.

The current Trees Committee of Friends of Lewes, which manages the Lewes Urban Arboretum Project, was set up in 2012 to realise the vision of the late Paul Millmore – of Lewes as a “town in the trees”. This award recognises the progress we’ve made in enriching our town’s treescape.

This achievement, of course, builds on the tree planting and conservation work by previous community groups, local councils, and residents. We hope that it will motivate others in our community to work with us to plant more trees and mitigate the threats to our tree population. These threats include climate change, pests and diseases, the unnecessary felling of healthy trees, and the pressures of increased housing and infrastructure. We all need to plan and plant for the future.

Welcome to our town in the trees!