Ben McLellan – a student in Environmental Geography at The University of York – came to Wakelyns in November 2022 to look into the environmental benefits of Agroforestry and how Agroforestry farms are managed.

Ben took these lovely pictures.

And here is a copy of his (successful!) dissertation which sets out his results and conclusions.

“I came to Wakelyns to understand the benefits of organic agroforestry for ecosystem health, soil health, biodiversity and carbon sequestration. This was done by identifying mushroom species across the farm and observing any other fungal activity. Soil samples were observed and smelled to gauge their content and health. Measurements were taken of tree height and girth/circumference to calculate the amount of carbon stored in the trees which, combined with previous data on soil carbon content, will help to understand the carbon sequestration capabilities of the farm.”