Did you know that chickens evolved in the jungles of southern Asia? This surprising fact is the basis of our hugely successful 20-year partnership with Sainsbury’s. Together we’ve turned eggs into trees – more than five million of them.
Chickens' jungle roots mean they are happier and healthier when allowed to roam under the shelter of trees; and healthier hens lay better eggs.
With this in mind, Sainsbury’s launched Woodland eggs back in 2004, with 1p going to the Woodland Trust for every dozen sold. For 20 years we've been growing together, naturally, and in two decades our partnership has done so much to help woodlands, wildlife and communities thrive.
Woodland eggs sold
raised for woods and wildlife
trees planted
Since 2004, over 755 million Woodland-branded products have been sold in Sainsbury’s: from free-range eggs, Woodland chicken and turkey, to bags for life, Best of British apples and a range of greeting cards. When Sainsbury’s customers buy a Woodland product they know they’re making a contribution to protect, restore and create UK woodland so that people and nature can thrive.
Watch our video to see how tree roundels are being integrated on farms and providing stepping stones for wildlife and shelter for cattle. The Woodland Trust is working with Farms for City Children, a charity founded by children’s author Michael Morpurgo and his wife, Clare, on a unique 'roundel' scheme - connecting city children with nature and farming.
>>Eleanor Lewis – South West outreach manager
This fenced enclosure here is what we refer to as a roundel, and the idea behind it is, over a number of years, to create some open grown canopy trees on the farm. This is quite a large roundel - it's about 30m in diameter. So in here we've got free trees that you can see in the larger guards, and in 75 to 100 years they are going to grow into kind of big, large features of the farm.
And then dotted around those in clusters we have a number of shrubs, and they're going to provide that kind of instant habitat whilst those larger trees take time to establish.
>>Ellen Smith – South West outreach adviser
We have the Trees for Your Farm scheme which is sponsored by Sainsbury’s and coordinated by the Woodland Trust. The main concept of agroforestry is to utilise trees, hedgerows and woodlands on your farm for the benefit of livestock and food production.
It’s very farm-specific, so maybe it's about restoring old landscape features, or it could be trying something more experimental. Roundels such as this can integrate into the farming landscape very well without compromising on food production.
>>Adam Bratt – Farm operations managers – Farms for City Children
As farmers, we are all very well aware that the benefits of trees on our farm are quite multiple. There were three main things that I wanted to achieve from this, and it was to provide opportunities for our livestock – so that is the shade from the sun, the protection from the wind and the rain, and the nutritional browse that the scrub will give them in time.
We also wanted opportunities for the wildlife; so by planting these thick, scrubby thorns around the open grown trees, we're going to have those areas for the birds to nest. But we also wanted to see: how could we do this that would benefit the children that visit the farm.
>>Katy Martin – Farm School Manager – Farms for City Children
Here at Farms for City Children, we welcome young people from across the country to one of our three farms, where they can stay at a residential like here in Nethercott House.
The children do real tasks – things that are important for nature, for farming, for them to learn about where their food comes from.
Each of the roundels will be adopted by one of our visiting schools or groups, giving them the opportunity to take away a tangible memory. This really gives them the opportunity to be connected to a piece of natural habitat that will be here for years to come.
>>Clare and Michael Morpurgo – Founders – Farms for City Children
What the Woodland Trust is doing with Farms for City Children is so important. The idea that these children can be part of what the country should be doing, which is to think about trees.
>>Children
Today we have been planting trees and holly.
It's a good idea because in the summer animals can go under them for shade. It also gives oxygen and it helps deforestation, so there's more trees instead of less.
>>Clare and Michael Morpurgo – Founders – Farms for City Children
When these trees have grown, and the children come back, it is going to be such a fantastic connection to the landscape, to their lives, really.
>>Children
We're really lucky that we've been able to come here and do really exciting things.
It makes me feel quite happy, knowing that the great things that's going to happen in the future with the trees that are being planted at the minute. It makes me feel quite proud.
As the lead sponsor of our first Agroforestry Show in 2023, Sainsbury’s is at the forefront of the agroforestry movement, exploring the boost that trees can deliver for nature and climate while delivering resilience and productivity for farm businesses and growers across their network.
Sainsbury’s has been funding our trees for your farm programme since 2020, for landowners who want to plant 500+ trees to improve productivity and the environment on their farms. Over 150,000 trees have been planted so far.
Through an initiative in the North West and South West of England, Sainsbury's suppliers will get direct access to tailored advice on how best to integrate trees on their land to build resilient practices while simultaneously helping to protect soils, rivers, biodiversity and climate. The advice covers tree species, sourcing and funding options. Read more about the benefits of agroforestry.
We want to make sure everybody in the UK has the chance to plant a tree. So we give away hundreds of thousands of trees to schools and communities each year. We’ve delivered over 15 million saplings to schools and communities through our free trees programme, funded with support from Sainsbury’s since 2009, empowering them to make a real difference to their local environment.
>>Steve Dewhurst – Woodland Trust
So the Free Trees for Schools and Communities initiative donates millions of trees every year to schools and community groups right across the UK. We want as many people to be able to plant a tree as possible. You can apply for 15 all the way up to 420, so we offer trees for every situation you can think of.
>>Mr Lankester – Headmaster, Charborough Road Primary School
So around two years ago, we went through a process with the local authority where we inherited the land we're in now as our field. It was desolate really there wasn't anything for the environment, there wasn't anything for the wildlife. So we felt very strongly we wanted to create a really lovely space for our native wildlife that we can also use to teach the children about how to look after the environment.
The Woodland Trust tree pack has been fantastic because we got a huge range of native species that we're able to talk to the children about. I did an assembly about it beforehand and told them about the trees they'd be planting, and then they were able to see them as little saplings going in. We had around nearly 400 trees, which meant that every child had the opportunity to get involved, so every child planted a tree. The pack not only facilitated improving our environment and our actual grounds, but also lots of education came from it as well.
>>Children
What we learned about planting the trees is like like how important they are to the environment um and that it's important that we have a lot of trees around.
Well I planted a blackthorn though there were also like I think there was some birch, there was like one or two oak.
I think it's going to help our environment cuz it might get more like wildlife.
Yeah it's giving a chance for new life to find a home.
>>Kirsty – South Gloucestershire Council
So the tree packs that we've had from the Woodland Trust, with the Friends of Page Park we've been able to get lots of people involved in planting up the hedge in the perimeter of the park.
>>Steph Purser – Friends of Page Park
Without the community tree packs we wouldn't have the native hedgerow that we have now. So we started about five or six years ago planting the hedgerow. So the ones behind me you can see are that old.
>>Kirsty – South Gloucestershire Council
And we've worked our way around the park to try and have develop that hedge that's replacing a single species hedge that was there to begin with.
>>Steph Purser – Friends of Page Park
So we have some regular volunteers uh that that help all the time, and they are marvellous, but when we have the tree packs we have roughly around 240 whips to plant. So what we do, we go out, we go out on social media asking people to come and help and the community come and help us on that day, and we have a big planting session.
>>Kirsty – South Gloucestershire Council
What's really nice is the engagement that we get from other people who aren't volunteering with us as well, where we have people asking what we're doing because they're interested in what we're planting and why it's going in.
>>Mr Lankester – Headmaster, Charborough Road Primary School
The application for the tree packs was dead easy – it took me about 10 minutes online.
We just put in a few details and said what we wanted, and then a few weeks later I got an email back.
>>Steve Dewhurst – Woodland Trust
You can apply for free trees from the Woodland Trust year-round. So we deliver in March and in November; if you apply for a free tree pack now, you'll receive it in November. If you applied between November and January, then it would arrive in March. That coincides with the traditional planting seasons, and that's going to give your trees the best chance possible of flourishing and growing.
>>Children
We learned that just everybody can make a difference.
It can it can help us um keep a more sustainable planet.
>> Steph Purser – Friends of Page Park
Well this a privilege, isn't it, that you're planting something that's going to be here for years to come.
>>Steve Dewhurst – Woodland Trust
The UK is in desperate need for more trees. Not just for us and our mental and physical health, but also for native wildlife, and we encourage as many people as possible to get involved with that process. And you'll see the benefits start to come.
Credit: Ben Lee / WTML
Sainsbury's was the lead partner on both our First World War Centenary Woods and Jubilee Woods projects, donating over £4.75 million and £1.5 million respectively. In 2018, it supported the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy project, planting more than 50,000 trees across the UK.
Credit: WTNI image library
We're teaming up with Sainsbury’s in our 20th year of partnership to protect and restore ancient woodland in the tourist hotspot of the Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Sainsbury’s is funding £200,000 to help restore 73 hectares at Mourne Park in one of the rarest habitats in Northern Ireland. This will ensure the long-term protection of this irreplaceable resource and secure its ecological integrity.
Over the past two decades we’ve worked closely to support the Woodland Trust, and we’re incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to achieve since we started work together 20 years ago. Together we’ve transformed landscapes in the UK through tree planting, providing so many positive impacts as a result – from habitats for biodiversity, to improved welfare for hens laying our Woodland eggs.
Our 20-year partnership with Sainsbury’s is a remarkable collaboration and an exemplar of how one business is championing sustainability. The impact of two decades growing together is testament to its strong mutual benefits. And with plans to expand agroforestry support for Sainsbury’s farmers, our innovative and pioneering partnership goes from strength to strength, demonstrating a win-win for sustainable food production and the natural environment.
Call us on 0330 333 5306 or email partners@woodlandtrust.org.uk to learn more about partnering with the Woodland Trust.
