The 250,000th tree was planted at a new forest being created around a north Essex village.
Local author Ronald Blythe and 11-year-old James Sinclair, the 500,000th child in the project to plant a tree for each of the 12 million children in Britain, planted the symbolic tree at Fordham Hall estate.
The 500 acres of land are being converted into woods and grasslands by the Woodland Trust.
Senior woodland officer Geoff Sinclair said that, despite the inclement weather, some 300 people, including five groups of Scouts and Cubs, turned out to help with planting.
The land was given to the Woodland Trust by an anonymous donor, and the project has been funded by grants from the Forestry Commission and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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