People young and old have joined forces to establish new woodland in Ilkley.

Members of the Ilkley Rotary Club are teaming up with children from as far away as London to plant trees behind Myddelton Lodge.

The project aims to link ancient woodland with younger trees growing north of Owler Park Road, allowing wildlife to spread to new areas. About 3,000 native trees, including elm, larch and oak, have been planted in a five-acre area.

Schools from across the country have helped out and more are being invited to take part.

Ilkley Rotary past president Dr Andrew Belton, chairman of the club’s environment committee, said it had had tremendous support from the community following disasters such as the Haiti earthquake, but that it was also aware of the effects of climate change.

“Our generation and our forbears carry a big responsibility for global warming and the implications for climate change,” he said.

“We hope to off-set and to minimise those effects for future generations and it has been our privilege to work with the next generation for whom the changes carry so much more significance. The young people we have seen are at the forefront of protecting our world for themselves and the as yet unborn generations.”

The Myddleton Grange Project is supported by Forest of Bradford, which plants about 30,000 trees a year across the district, including in an area on Addingham Moorside.