The Carbon Community

01/09/2026

September 1st.
The meteorological start of Autumn.
The Met Office has confirmed that 2026 was the hottest summer on record.

Over the coming weeks, we will share updates on what has been happening at this summer.

Meanwhile, let's start Autumn with Action!

🌳 Join us for a hands-on nature-recording session as we look for, identify and count young trees from natural regeneration in our carbon study research area.

Natural regeneration happens when trees establish themselves naturally, rather than being planted. By recording these trees in different areas, we can develop a clearer picture of natural regeneration in different habitats. Your observations will help create a baseline for future monitoring and inform research findings.

🕙 10am to 4pm
📍The Carbon Community, Llandovery, Wales
🗓 Saturday 12th September

https://bit.ly/CarbonComTreeRegen

Join us for a day of citizen science volunteering and make a difference to environmental research.

16/08/2026

Deep gratitude to all those working to fight the fire, create firebreaks, and support the crews.

Please, in these continued exceptionally dry conditions, follow the safety rules and do not undertake any activity that could start a fire.

13/08/2026

A huge thank you to the firefighters, farmers and everyone working so hard to fight the fires in Rhandirmwyn, and to everyone supporting them.

Please, in these exceptionally dry conditions, wherever you are, follow the safety rules - no BBQs, no open flames, and do not discard lit ci******es outdoors.

23/07/2026

About last week!

Did you catch Charles Nicholls from The Carbon Community and Dr Bonnie Waring from Imperial Science on Channel 4 News?

💚 Big thank you to Alex Thomson and the team for digging into the story of crushed basalt and tree growth.

💚 Big thank you to the volunteers who joined us to measure trees to help finalise the tree measurement protocol for 2026.

💚 Big thank you to Heidelberg Materials for allowing filming at the quarry.

💚 Biggest thank you to EVERYONE who has been a part of this story so far.

If you are looking for five minutes of hope, grab a coffee and have a watch!

https://youtu.be/3toYxpP_S2w?si=DUVhplWVcOdlMjda

As the UK swelters in heatwaves which will only become more intense...

22/07/2026

Bore da! Good morning!

Very chuffed to see our research paper as the cover feature for Communications Sustainability. Read all about it!

Image Credit: Paul Box

Communications Sustainability is an open-access journal from Nature Portfolio that publishes high-quality research, reviews and commentary in all ...

21/07/2026

Read all about it!

Our latest update from The Carbon Community 'digs' into Channel 4's latest report on "the magic dust saving trees and reducing carbon emissions".

🪨 How crushed silicate rock (basalt) removes CO₂ over time

🌳 What we’re seeing so far in tree growth and aboveground carbon stocks in our large-scale field trial

🌱 Why understanding the underlying geochemistry and site conditions is essential before scaling ERW in UK forests and beyond.

Glandwr Forest is one of the world’s largest field trials combining tree planting with enhanced rock weathering and soil microbiome inoculation, with 25,600 trees planted across 11.5 hectares.

📺 Watch Channel 4's report https://bit.ly/CarbonComChannel4
📖 Read our latest update to learn more! ⬇️⬇️⬇️



https://www.carboncommunity.org/carbon-community-updates/meet-the-magic-dust-whats-really-behind-glandwrs-enhanced-rock-weathering-results

Last night, Channel 4 News ran a five-minute piece by Alex Thomson dubbing our basalt trial "the magic dust saving trees and reducing carbon emissions" — and setting it against a backdrop of the UK's increasingly frequent, increasingly intense heatwaves, and the growing need for forests that can a...

17/07/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who has been a part of this story so far! We'll leave this here so you can watch the coverage.

16/07/2026

From lunar to lush, catch us on Channel 4 News!!

As the UK swelters in heatwaves which will only become more intense and frequent because of climate change, we need trees more than ever.

16/07/2026

Some say , we say .

75,000 tree measurements were taken by volunteers during the first four years of the .

When we started, we had a picnic table and sun umbrella, but that then grew into a 'new to us' second-hand barn and the famous flapjacks sourced from the wonderful La Patisserie, Llandovery. We have a few regular volunteers who joke that they only come for the flapjacks ;-)

The first scientific paper from this study was recently published in Communications Sustainability. Results show that nature-based interventions can boost carbon storage in young native woodlands by up to 27% in the first four years.

Thank you to the researchers and to all the citizen scientists who have been part of the story so far.

Fancy joining us? We highly recommend the flapjacks ;-)

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