Eco & Environment, Events & Entertainment, Wareham | Posted on December 4th, 2025 | return to news

Dorset residents chop down trees to help out at pull-a-pine event

Hundreds attended the annual Christmas Pull-a-Pine festival at RSPB Arne on Saturday 29 November.

Hundreds of Dorset residents braved the wet weather reports to visit RSPB Arne on Saturday 29 November.

For over two decades, the RSPB has invited residents to the heathlands around Arne near Wareham to chop down and take home their own Christmas pine trees.

The pine tree is an invasive species, and if left to grow unchecked they will block the light and prevent plants from growing on the heathland from growing. This has a knock-on effect of harming the reptiles and ground-nesting birds that make their homes on the heathland. As a solution, the Pull-a-Pine event is held to encourage people to help with the conservation of the area.

Visitors could bring their own tools or borrow a bowsaw and garden shears to use to cut down as many pine trees as they wanted or pull up any shoots that they found.

Hot drinks, hot dogs and cakes were on sale to keep visitors refreshed, while local skiffle band, Quinns Quinney, entertained attendees with their music. There were stalls selling festive gifts, as well as a crafts area for children to make wreathes and Christmas ornaments using natural materials.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service were also on the scene with a Unimog – an all-terrain fire engine designed to tackle blazes in hard-to-read blazes – to inform visitors about the vehicle and its role in helping stop the heathland fires experienced in 2025.

To learn more about the festive event, visit https://events.rspb.org.uk/events/128274.

More photos on the Dorset View Facebook page: