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A nine-year-old boy who replanted a pine sapling in Coronation Park to help offset the damage caused by Storm Ciarán has revisited his tree one year later.
Thomas and his grandmother Dilys planted the young tree near where the sapling's 90-year-old parent pine once stood before it fell during the devastating storm on 2 November 2023.
The idea to replant the sapling in Coronation Park came after Thomas and his grandmother, who both frequent visitors to the area, saw the widespread damage caused by the storm.
Pictured: Thomas and his family planted the pine sapling at the park in May.
Coronation Park lost half of its trees, including many dating back to the original plantings in 1935 and replacements after the Great Storm of 1987.
The scale of damage last year was believed to exceed that of the 1987 storm, which felled an estimated 20,000 trees.
After hearing that nearly half of the park’s trees were either destroyed or damaged, Thomas wanted to do something to help.
Pictured: Dilys first shared her idea on the 'Jersey Ask? Advise! Advertise!' Facebook group following the storm in November last year.
Years before, during a visit to Coronation Park, the youngster had picked up a pine cone from beneath the old pine tree.
After taking it home, he left it outside in his garden, where it eventually germinated and grew into a two-foot-tall sapling.
Following the storm, Thomas and his grandmother decided to bring the sapling “back to its roots” by replanting it in the park as a small contribution to its recovery.
Pictured: Thomas and the sapling in his garden back in November (left) and the young tree now in the park months later (right).
Reflecting on the experience earlier this week, which marked one year since the storm, Thomas said he was inspired by the progress of the sapling and the broader recovery efforts across the island.
“I have seen a huge recovery in Millbrook Park and in all of Jersey,” he said.
“I still think that it is really important that we keep planting trees as we can sadly still see the damage the storm did a year later.”
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