A MAJOR environmental project has been launched to boost numbers of Britain's rarest native tree.

The magnificent black poplar, once almost as common as the oak, has almost vanished from the landscape and is in danger of disappearing altogether.

But Darlington Borough Council has set up a project to involve communities in planting and cultivating hundreds of the trees.

The Black Poplar Project was launched at the weekend with a series of events in Darlington.

There are about 5,000 black poplars left in the country. The trees started to disappear in the 19th Century when their natural habitat was steadily destroyed by housing and farming.

The majestic trees are even rarer in the North, except in Darlington where there are about 30, including five or six of the extra rare females, so vital to the future survival of the species.

Rob George, the council's countryside and rights of way officer, said: "They are a very unusual tree, and anybody who's seen one won't forget it.

"But they are dying out to the extent that in 100 years' time there might not be any in the country - that's not a maybe, it's almost a definite.

"So we're looking to plant 500 in the next five years, and we don't just want to plant them, we want to look after them to make sure they thrive and grow."

The council wants the community to get involved by identifying existing trees, offering land and taking cuttings of the trees to grow in gardens.

Local schoolchildren are getting involved, with Abbey Infant School, Harrowgate Hill Junior School and Mount Pleasant Primary School offering to grow trees in nurseries.

Mr George said: "We want them to be taken care of. Anybody can go out and plant a load of trees, but they have to be nurtured."

The trees will then be planted in choice locations, some of which have already been identified, such as council land at Drinkfield Marsh.

The weekend conference was well attended, with representatives from all over the region, including Durham Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency, Tees Forest, the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers and Darlington Field Club.

The delegates watched a This Is Your Life play performed by children from Harrowgate Hill, charting the life of a tree.

Naturalist David Bellamy was unable to attend, but sent a video message of support recorded for the conference.

There was a visit to a black poplar at Baydale Beck, where folk singer Vin Garbutt gave a premiere performance of a song about the tree, which will be included on his new CD.

Pupils from Abbey Infant School tied ribbons to a tree, evoking traditional tree dressing ceremonies once common in English folklore.

Borough councillor Stephen Harker said he hoped the project, the first under the Durham Biodiversity Action Plan, would be a success.

Anyone interested in supporting the project, or who knows of black poplars not recorded, should contact Mr George on (01325) 388648