LOCAL climate action group, Treesponsibility, has been engaged with the question of how we can reduce our carbon dioxide emissions since long before the idea of a Transition Town was ever thought of.
The initial vision was a simple one, that we could all take responsibility for our CO2 emissions.
By creating opportunities for volunteers to come out and plant trees, Treesponsibility gives people the chance to take that first positive step.
Since the group's launch in March 1998, things have become more complicated.
Governments and large corporations have latched on to the idea that as trees draw down and lock up carbon dioxide then emissions can be offset by paying for trees to be planted.
By choosing not to grapple with the thorny issue of reducing emissions, what was a means of taking responsibility became the means of yet again avoiding responsibility.
Also, with there being no relationship between the businesses paying for the trees and the organisations planting the trees the resulting plantations could be inappropriate.
But Treesponsibility, because it is a small local organisation of principled and deeply committed people, has been able to maintain its integrity.
It has earned its place as a key player in the transition to lower carbon emissions – by contributing to local resilience to climate change and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
In June 2000, when the Calder Valley experienced devastating floods, the Treesponsibility book "Sowing the Seeds of Change" had just been printed, and the pristine copies sat on a pallet at the printers one inch above the rising flood waters.
Following this the group launched its "After the Flood the Forest" campaign.
Trees slow the run-off after heavy rainfall, take up water, help the soil absorb water, and hold on to the soil, thus preventing erosion.
Climate change scenarios for our area predict increased incidence of dramatic rainfall events.
The characteristic steep sided valleys make the area particularly prone to flooding.
Because of this Treesponsibility seeks strategic sites on the bare hillsides where trees planted for flood alleviation have optimum effect.
Increasingly Treesponsibility has been planting trees that will be coppiced for wood fuel. Coppicing is an ancient method of woodland management in which sections of woodland are felled in rotation and allowed to grow again.
This regrowth is characterised by multiple instead of single stems. The base from which these grow is called a stool.
Many woodlands still show signs of coppicing from times long passed. Once, whether as fuel or as artefacts, wood was at the centre of our economy.
This side of Treesponsibility's work has been greatly helped by a Green Infrastructure (GI) Grant from Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency.
The group also contributes to local food production by planting orchard trees and berry bushes.
Within all this the group remains sensitive to local bio-diversity needs.
