DORSET.- A museum famous for its green machines is inviting visitors to support a campaign to help restore a Dorset woodland.

In partnership with Forestry England, The Tank Museum aims to raise at least £30,000 to plant 5,000 native trees at Queen’s Copse in Wimborne.

Partnerships Manager, Leif Mann, Forestry England said: “Our aim is to return this woodland to its original character so we can create a biodiverse habitat that captures carbon, supports wildlife, and thrives for future generations to enjoy.”

To raise the funds, The Tank Museum will be offering customers the chance to donate a tree for £6 when they purchase their museum admission tickets.

The Tank Museum’s Head of Visitor Experience & Commercial, Rosanna Dean said: “The Tank Museum doesn’t charge for parking. Our hope is that those who can afford it will make a favourable comparison between the cost of a tree and a day’s parking – and be as enthusiastic about shaping the future as we are about preserving the past.”

Every £6 donated pays for one sapling to be professionally planted with a stake and growth-guard. Forestry England, with over a century of woodland management expertise, will undertake the planting and provide each sapling up to 10 years of care to ensure it flourishes into a new, native woodland just 25 miles from the museum site.

The new campaign is The Tank Museum’s second significant environmental initiative of the year. In April the Museum announced it was running a trial to convert one of its historic vehicles to run on “Green Diesel” – a cleaner and sustainable Diesel alternative.

If successful, it’s hoped other vehicles could be converted to run on Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil to reduce the environmental impact of its live action tank displays by as much as 90%.