Environment Archives - Page 23 of 42

Gordon Buchanan Named New Patron For Trees For Life

Environment, Featured, News No Responses »

Jan 112013

dsc_0203-gordon-alan-with-planted-tree-tfl

With thanks to Richard Bunting

Conservation charity Trees for Life has begun 2013, the Year of Natural Scotland, with the welcome news that acclaimed wildlife cameraman and filmmaker Gordon Buchanan has agreed to become its new patron.

Through the role, the well-known Scottish broadcaster will raise awareness of Trees for Life’s award-winning restoration of the Caledonian Forest – Scotland’s equivalent of a rainforest – and its unique range of wildlife.

Gordon’s inspiring work – including on Big Cat Diary, the Lost Land series, and the hugely popular Springwatch and Autumnwatch – has seen him become a household name.

His career has taken him across the world, memorably including a year spent with a family of black bears in Minnesota, USA, for the documentary ‘The Bear Family & Me’.

“I am proud to be a patron of Trees for Life, as they are the spearhead of native woodland restoration and conservation in Scotland. Their tireless efforts over the last two decades have created an expanding home for thousands of important species, breathing new life into one of the world’s most magical forest habitats,” said Gordon.

Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Executive Director, said:

“We are delighted that Gordon has agreed to become patron for our charity. His love of the natural world shines through all he does. His high profile, together with his passion for wildlife and Nature, are sure to attract further support for our work, which will be very good news for Scotland’s Caledonian Forest.”

Last May, Gordon planted Trees for Life’s Millionth Tree at a special ceremony at the charity’s Dundreggan Estate to the west of Loch Ness, in Glen Moriston. At the time he described the Caledonian Forest as “a wild place at its most wonderful”.

Gordon – who currently lives in Glasgow – grew up on the Isle of Mull, with a love of the natural world that was inspired by Sir David Attenborough’s work. Trees for Life is restoring the Caledonian Forest to a spectacular wilderness region of 1,000 square miles in the Highlands to the west of Loch Ness and Inverness.

Only a fraction of the former forest now survives, but the charity has planted more than one million trees at dozens of locations, and has created 10,000 acres of new forest. It has pledged to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration within the next five years.

Trees for Life’s patrons also include author and broadcaster Vanessa Collingridge; leading conservationist Roy Dennis MBE; and writer and broadcaster Muriel Gray.

For more details, see www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 0845 458 3505.

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The Great Con-servation Cover Up

Environment, Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Jan 032013

By Angus Macmillan.

TREE OVER SUN Feat © Egidijus Mika | Dreamstime.com

Conservationists and nurseries have been quick to claim that the spores of chalara fraxinea, which is the fungus causing Ash Dieback, could have blown over from mainland Europe but are very quiet about their role in planting diseased trees from the same source.

They have known for around six years that Ash Dieback was widespread in Europe but are now blaming government for not introducing a ban earlier in the hope they will be compensated or get grants for replanting from the hard pressed public purse.

Considering the vague media references to where the diseased plantings took place and what organisations owned the woodlands, I decided to make a Freedom of Information request to the Forestry Commission to reveal this information in detail.

They replied saying, they were not prepared to release this information at this time and that, whilst it might be of interest to the public, it was not in the public interest to divulge locations and owner organisations as it could deter other owners from reporting the disease. The Forestry Commission obviously has a poor opinion of those who plant trees and possibly quite rightly so.

Following a newspaper report that the Woodland Trust “is one of Britain’s biggest importers of ash” – and they call them “native” trees – had at least two infected properties, I emailed them to ask how many of their woodlands had Ash Dieback. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t reply.

So there we have it. Up to 80 million ash trees are at risk from disease but the Forestry Commission is quite prepared to protect its tree-planting buddies from criticism, in what must be one of the most scandalous environmental introductions from abroad by those who have been advocating the destruction of “alien” populations of both flora and fauna for years.

And it’s not in the public interest to reveal who they are?

The “con” in conservation is truly exposed.

Further reading – The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Biotic_Nativeness_- A_Historical_Perspective

Ross Thomson – Cycling Champion

Aberdeen City, Environment, Featured No Responses »

Dec 142012

Whilst the headlines have been grabbed by the magnificent Wiggo, the delightful Laura Trott, Sir Chris Hoy and our old Paralympic gold medallist Neil Fachie in a vintage year for two-wheeled endeavour, little publicity has been afforded another Aberdeen Cycling Champion, Ross Thomson, Conservative Councillor for Hazlehead, Ashley and Queens Cross and occupant of that Council role.
David Innes freewheeled alongside Ross over Town House coffee.

How did the role of Cycling Champion come about?

It’s something the Aberdeen Cycle Forum included in their manifesto, a list of things they wanted to see after the local elections. The Forum’s view is they wanted someone within the council to promote the views of cyclists. They felt there had been a barrier to them getting a voice, but now I’m working quite closely with the Forum. As an administration, we know the benefits of cycling, so wanted to promote it. It’s a role I was quite keen to take on. I’m surprised this wasn’t given prominence before, given the issues of pollution and cycling’s health benefits.

What about the specific role?

There was nothing set down, so I’m kind of writing my own job description! I discussed all the issues that concerned the Cycle Forum in numerous meetings and found out what they’d like to see happen in the city. I sat down with council officers, too. I found it surprising there was no one person responsible for cycling, that it was broken up between different services. I found myself going from pillar to post trying to get something done, whether it was about bike stands, or issues about a particular road junction

So, one commonsense thing I thought needed sorting out was communication, a frustration for the Forum too, so I’ve set up a meeting with all relevant players. This first proper meeting will be in January and will include people from Planning, Traffic Management and the Forum. This will mean that if the Forum has issues to raise with Planning about cycling, for example, on a new development, they can raise them directly with planners before and during the development, rather than comment on them afterwards.

On matters of junctions and the city cycle network, they can talk directly with staff from the Traffic Management team. The Forum now copies me in any correspondence they have with departments which will lessen the frustration the Forum has felt about not always getting responses. This will mean we can actually get things done!

Already there’s a review of junctions going on and the delay in installing cycle stands at Marischal College is being attended to. This is very much the beginning, but as long as there’s a voice in the council, in committee, including Education, we’ll start to see something positive come from the role, although we’re still defining it.

Getting cycling on to the agenda, then?

That’s the best way to put it. I’m not the expert. Derek from the Forum is very good in terms of keeping us up to date with Scottish Government regulations and is a fount of knowledge. I’m in a position to take that information to officers and exert a bit of influence.

How can individual cyclists with issues to raise get in touch and begin to influence what the council does?

I would actively encourage them to get in touch with me by e-mail. Some people have already been in touch about the inadequacy of the route connecting to the new development at Kingswells. The Cycling Champion role hasn’t been well-publicised, with just one mention in the Evening Express, I think, when the role was announced.

Send us your press releases!

We certainly will. We will look at getting something on the council website, a dedicated page maybe, as I want to be accessible. It’s a frustration for many of us in the council that initiatives don’t tend to get the publicity we feel they deserve.

In straitened economic times, is there a specific budget for the work you need to get done, and how best would you see that being best used?

In Planning, Enterprise and Infrastructure, one of the main departments I deal with, there is a team that deals with cycling but the resources are eaten up by many other issues too – pedestrian safety is an example. Funding comes from the PE&I Committee. There is specific ring-fenced funding for cycling from the Scottish Government.

We need to ensure that’s effectively used and we need to make sure we bid for resources when they’re made available. We’re trying to encourage more schools to provide Bikeability, a new form of Cycling Proficiency, and the Scottish Government has just launched a scheme to help provide for that and our officers will be bidding for funds.

You might be surprised to know that most schools aren’t doing it. I’ve persuaded the Director of Education to write to schools asking them what they need to encourage this – what are the obstacles and so on?

It took me a while to find out who was responsible. I eventually got a meeting with the City Wardens (who are), the Cycling Forum, some people from EP&I, and the education convenor. We all agreed we wanted Bikeability promoted in our schools. Some of the guys from the Cycling Forum volunteered to help with that and the City Wardens said they wanted to commit more resources to it. So, we’re engaging with schools now and once we get the responses we can get resources out there. It’s so important.

There are some things that don’t cost an awful lot. I did a cycle tour of the city centre which was great, and I found out where investment has been made and has paid off. Re-prioritising some of the routes, for example allowing cyclists exemptions on some one-way streets could make the network so much more permeable and easier for cyclists to negotiate and make it safer in some ways.

Safety-wise, Anderson Drive is a huge concern. There’s been a recent tragedy there and we need to get congestion out of the city to make it safer, easier and more enjoyable for cyclists. In the Planning department, there are pictures of Aberdeen from the 1920s and ‘30s with pedestrians walking about, crossing roads with no fear.

I think the Western Peripheral Route will take traffic away from the city centre and if Union Street isn’t so clogged up it will encourage people who don’t cycle at the moment to take it up. When I did it for the very first time I had people with me, which helped, as they knew what they were doing.

How are you prioritising use of the funding you do have?

The meetings I’m planning will help set priorities. We need to build from the bottom up. An officer may have cycling as part of their brief, but that has never been prioritised. This role should help put cycling firmly on the agenda.

Sometimes, it’s the small things that make a big difference. Justice Mill Lane is currently under consideration and it’s proposed that it might be one-way and that right turns on to Holburn Street will be banned. The Cycle Forum feels that such a ban might deter people from cycling, so I’ll be trying to have that exempted for cyclists and EP&I will be looking at that, by engaging with the Cycle Forum.

It’s the same with the ban on traffic going straight ahead into Guild Street from Virginia Street. This has been criticised as it puts cyclists on to the Market Street dual carriageway with its narrow cycle lanes, heavy traffic and large vehicles. We’ve managed to get that made only temporary so the impact can be assessed. There will be a report on the findings at the next committee meeting, including usage by cyclists. They also need to consult the Forum about it. These are baby steps, but it’s improving consultation.

Does the council insist on cycling-friendly measures when discussing plans and applications for new developments?

It’s council policy to cover this. For example, new-build flats should have bike stands provided, but I’ve found out this doesn’t always happen and it’s not always included in reports. Officers tell me the developers said this is something they might not be able to achieve due to other concessions they’ve had to make in the design.

Now they’ve got someone here to say, ‘Well, no. We have a policy in place, we should be abiding by it.’ It frustrates me but it happens all the time when there is clear guidance in black and white, yet it’s not always being followed. You look through reports and you wonder why, whether it’s affordable housing or for cyclists. Why have a policy if you’re not going to commit to it, or deliver on it?

The meetings will help, especially with planners attending, since they deal with all the new applications coming in. It frustrates the Forum and many others that developers should be contributing to the road infrastructure and the community in some shape or form.

Aberdeen’s been pretty bad in getting its share of planning gain and developers will argue on the basis of margins being so tight, the cost of land and construction so high, that they can’t afford to give anything extra towards planning gain, that these additional costs would put the whole development at risk.

It’s a bit of a balancing act. Some people would like to see planning gain from the Kingswells development to the cycle corridor as it is unfit for purpose – it becomes so narrow and the hedges are so overgrown that it becomes quite dangerous.

The meetings will allow the Forum to see what applications are coming forward and they’ll be able to challenge the planners there and then. They know the town and the routes where cyclists like to travel – and will be able to ask ‘can you try at least to put a case to the developer?’ to invest in the cycle network in the area where it can make a positive difference. We may not always be successful but we can make sure we’re always making a good case.

We need to keep an eye on new developments to ensure that cycling provision is delivered. There’s not much I can do about the cycling provision at the Triple Kirks development, where, as well as there being not enough bike stands, cyclists will be forced on to the Denburn dual carriageway to get access to the bottom level car park. Coming out of the car park will force them down the dual carriageway into the one way system around the railway station when there could be something at the front of the development. It shows how cyclists were an afterthought in that case.

RossThomson@aberdeencity.gov.uk
http://www.cyclingscotland.org/our-projects/cycle-training/bikeability-scotland-2

Another Accolade For Trees For Life Founder

Environment, Featured, News No Responses »

Dec 062012

Founder and executive director of conservation charity Trees for Life, Alan Watson Featherstone, has triumphed in the Environment category of the prestigious Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards 2012, announced at a ceremony in Edinburgh on 29 November.

alan-watson-featherstone-with-lesley-riddoch3

The awards mark outstanding individual contributions to Scottish cultural life which inspire others.

Categories commemorate all that is great about Scotland, including Art, Business, Food, Music, Screen, Sport and Writing as well as the Environment.

The recipient declared:

“As the winners of these awards are decided by public vote in the UK, this is an inspiring, national recognition of Trees for Life’s restoration of the Caledonian Forest. I’m very grateful to everyone who voted. It’s an honour that shows how deeply people care about conserving Scotland’s world-class wild landscapes, and about protecting our stunning biodiversity and wildlife.”

The charity has already planted more than a million trees at dozens of locations in the Highlands, creating ten thousand acres of Caledonian Forest, and has pledged to establish a million more trees through planting and natural regeneration within the next five years.

Today, only a fraction of the original forest survives, but Trees for Life is restoring it and its unique wildlife to an inspiring, spectacular wilderness region of a thousand square miles to the west of Loch Ness and Inverness.

In his acceptance speech, Featherstone acknowledged the support he’s received from current and past staff of Trees for Life, and the thousands of volunteers who have worked on the project since 1989. He dedicated the award to everyone who’s been inspired by, and cares about, the Caledonian Forest, which he described as ‘a Scottish national treasure’.

His wide-ranging, long-term work to change humanity’s impact on nature and the planet has provided inspiration for ecological restoration projects in the Borders, Dartmoor and the endangered Parana pine forest in south-east Brazil.

People can support Trees for Life’s work by purchasing dedicated trees to celebrate births, weddings and special occasions. A tree will also be planted for every recipient of a new Plant a Tree winter gift card this Christmas.

Meanwhile, the charity’s acclaimed volunteer Conservation Weeks offer opportunities to gain practical conservation experience in spectacular surroundings.

www.treesforlife.org.uk

Telephone: 0845 458 3505

More on Trees For Life

Trees for Life’s story began at a major environmental conference at Findhorn in October 1986 when Alan, who at that time had no experience of conservation work, no funding and no access to land, made a commitment to delegates to launch a project to restore the Caledonian Forest.

The forest had once covered much of the highlands, with native pinewoods encompassing 1.5m hectares at their maximum extent in a wild landscape of mountains, lochs and rivers. Largely a result of land clearance, wood use and farming, centuries of deforestation had taken a huge toll by the 1980s, with only a tiny percentage of the former forest remaining.

Practical conservation work began in June 1989, when Alan took a team of volunteers to place tree guards around Scots Pine seedlings in Glen Cannich, to protect them from deer. By 1991, Trees for Life had begun to plant a new generation of trees, some of which were the first to grow in the Caledonian Forest for 150 years.

Trees for Life’s vision includes reintroduction of the forest’s wildlife and plants to form a fully-functioning ecosystem. It has developed as an award-winning charity with a dedicated staff team, hundreds of volunteers and thousands of supporters.

In 2008, it bought the 10,000-acre Dundreggan Estate west of Loch Ness, one of the largest areas of land in the UK ever purchased for forest restoration.

The charity’s awards include UK Conservation Project of the Year 1991, the Millennium Marque in 2000 and Top Ten Conservation Holidays worldwide in 2009. In addition, Alan received the prestigious Schumacher Award in 2001 for his ‘inspirational and practical work on conserving and restoring degraded ecosystems‘.

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Tree For Every Citizen: Award Winner Or Disaster?

Aberdeen City, Environment 13 Responses »

Nov 232012

Originally sent to cover Aberdeen’s Tree for Every Citizen initiative, Aberdeen Voice’s Suzanne Kelly turned campaigner against the scheme, protesting alongside animal charities, community councils and thousands of local residents.

War torn country storm damage? No it is award winning ACC ph2 scheme realised. Tullos 18 Nov 12

Despite the many firm arguments against the plan – a plan which included culling the deer which had wandered the Gramps for generations – a gung-ho Aberdeen City Council (ACC) went ahead. With Tullos Hill set to be planted with 89,000 trees in the scheme’s second phase, gorse and other indigent plants were ripped out, a process that left many birds and small animals homeless.

As one of the scheme’s mooted outcomes was to create a haven for wildlife, the illogicality was not lost on campaigners. Nor was the cost, which ran into thousands of pounds despite a council pledge the operation would be cost neutral.

The plan, to destroy existing meadowland and slaughter its native deer to create a woodland habitat in which, conversely, deer and squirrels could live, according to its supporters, was described by the Scottish SPCA as ‘abhorrent and absurd’.

Yet the council claims the project as a great success story.

So, what is the reality on the hill today?

In October 2012, Princess Anne presented the city with a certificate to mark its effort to create a Diamond Jubilee Wood on Tullos Hill. Patron of the Woodland Trust’s Jubilee Woods project, the princess presented the award to ACC Countryside Officer Ian Tallboys. According to the city’s publicity arm, Tallboys said:

“Tullos Hill is one of Aberdeen’s most popular beauty spots, so it is vital that we preserve and enhance this area for future generations.

“This ambitious project – part of the council’s award-winning Tree for Every Citizen scheme – has gone a long way to achieving that and it is great news that the hard work of everyone involved is now being recognised on the national stage.”

It all sounds very impressive, but let’s examine some of Tallboys’ claims about the scheme:

Ambitious? Well, no one could disagree with that. The scheme, largely cooked up as a LibDem election pledge, was so ambitious that not only the wishes of local people but the concerns of animal charities such as the Animal Concern Advice Line and Scottish SPCA were ignored

Preserved? The hill has been torn up, fenced off, its wildlife scared away or shot.

Enhanced? The hill is scarred and badly damaged, an area that was a noted beauty spot and in places, still is. The deer, scapegoats for the failure of Phase One of the scheme, have been shot.

Whether or not more deer move into the area (as most wildlife experts without a vested interest in the tree scheme advise), the scheme is as likely to fail in the second phase as it did in the first. For a start, the soil is almost non-existent (as a government soil report advised campaigners years ago), and what is there is filled with rock, stone and decades of debris from the hill’s long-standing use as a de-facto rubbish tip.

The soil report also cites weeds as a prime factor in the failure of trees to thrive, though being planted on a windswept hill adjacent to the North Sea would hardly promote healthy growth. The hill’s weeds are already doing their work, the trees so fought for by those who stood to gain from the scheme already being left to compete with weeds for nutrients in the soil.

Nothing like 89,000 trees were planted. Little or no planting has taken place where gorse has actually been removed from the site. Nothing has been done to make good the scarred areas of the hill and, despite claims to the contrary, the land seems simply too rocky and too filled with garbage to support healthy trees.

There is little evidence to support Tallboys’ declarations of achieving anything positive whatsoever.

A smattering of evidence that Tullos hill just might be too rocky for tree roots and subject to wind toss. Tullos 18 Nov 12

This entire project has been and remains a sorry excuse for environmental enhancement. It could be the only enhancement from the project has been to the pockets of those contracted (and paid by the taxpayer) to exterminate the deer and remove natural habitat.

It is worth noting seabird populations in the area are down more than 50% since the 1970s; the loss of even more gorse habitat cannot help. Any similar exercise so lacking in public support and with such disastrous outcomes must not be allowed again.

Our intrepid reporter Suzanne Kelly will be writing to the Diamond Jubilee Woodlands Trust and Princess Anne’s secretary, including ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of the devastation, details of the finances involved and proof of the lack of public support. She invites other interested parties to join her.

She says:

“I have absolutely nothing against trees or any well thought out environmental improvement scheme. But the Tree for Every Citizen project was carried out not only at all costs but against residents’ wishes, against the advice of experts and against the existing ecosystem that was in place.

“We now have a badly damaged meadowland, and meadowland is the fastest-disappearing type of ecosystem in the UK. In Aberdeen. I’ve seen meadows given up for development at an alarming pace while empty brownfield sites lie undeveloped.

“This situation needs to be addressed and in future the needs of all stakeholders taken into account. There must never be another ill-conceived, ego-driven, sorry excuse for environmental improvement like this again.”

P.S. CJ Piper, a company paid over £40,000 for its part in this scheme, helped prepare a report to the Forestry Commission which claimed only a ‘vociferous minority’ opposed the scheme; in it, proprietor Mr Piper suggested this ‘minority’ would quieten down after the deer were shot.

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Scientific Breakthrough In Caledonian Forest Restoration

Environment, Featured, Information No Responses »

Nov 222012

Scientists have announced the sequencing of the entire genetic code – the genome – of a dwarf birch from Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Estate near Loch Ness in Glen Moriston, where the conservation charity is working to conserve a natural population of the species. With thanks to Richard Bunting.

Dwarf birch (Betula nana) is a nationally scarce species in Britain, occurring mainly in small populations on Scottish mountains.
The genome sequencing – a laboratory process identifying the complete DNA sequence of an organism – lays the foundations for genetic research into the birch genus, which includes up to 60 tree species.

This will benefit studies on the conservation of dwarf birch. Project lead scientist Richard Buggs, based at Queen Mary University of London, told Aberdeen Voice:

“Increasing our understanding of tree genomes is essential for our long-term ability to conserve and grow tree species in the UK.”

Award-winning charity Trees for Life’s executive director Alan Watson Featherstone added:

“This is a tremendous breakthrough. Together with our woodland restoration work at Dundreggan, where we have one of the greatest concentrations of dwarf birch in Scotland, it will do much to benefit the conservation of this important species.”

Dwarf birch forms part of the mountain tree line, where woodland gives way to open moorland. This tree-line contains a unique assemblage of species and should be a miniature, waist-high species-rich woodland; in reality, it has become a ‘forgotten forest’ in the UK, overgrazed and in poor condition.

As part of its Million More Trees campaign, Trees for Life has launched an appeal to restore the ‘wee trees’ that form the natural tree-line, including those growing at their altitudinal limit as well as specially-adapted species such as dwarf birch.

By restoring the ‘wee trees’ of the Caledonian Forest, the charity also hopes to create a woodland link between Glen Affric and Glen Moriston, providing an expanded habitat for many species.

A healthy population of dwarf birch will also benefit the black grouse living along the woodland edge, and ptarmigan and golden plover nesting on the upland moors.

“Dundreggan offers a unique opportunity to restore the complete tree-line community and all its species,” said Alan Watson Featherstone.

The genome sequencing project was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, and is being published in the journal Molecular Ecology.

Queen Mary University of London, Trees for Life and Highland Birchwoods are partnering to supervise PhD student James Borrell, who will survey the genetic diversity of dwarf birch populations in Scotland over the next three years.

Trees for Life has demonstrated the benefits of conservation action for this declining tree species.

In 2002 they fenced an area of dwarf birch to protect it from grazing deer, with astonishing results: dwarf birches now grow healthily above the surrounding vegetation and support a unique assemblage of species, including a rare moth that is a conservation priority for Scotland and three different sawflies, two of which were unknown in the UK until they were discovered at Dundreggan.

Such finds have established the Inverness-shire estate’s reputation as a ‘lost world’ for the Highlands.

You can support Trees For Life by funding dedicated trees and groves, while the charity’s Conservation Weeks allow people to gain practical conservation experience in beautiful locations. For more details, see www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 0845 458 3505

For details of Trees for Life’s Return of the Wee Trees Appeal, please visit http://treesforlife.org.uk/tfl.appeal_dwarfbirch.html

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Ash Dieback Highlights Need To Protect UK Trees

Environment, Featured, Information No Responses »

Nov 162012

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

With concerns over the arrival and spread of ash dieback in the UK growing, conservation charity Trees for Life said today that the disease highlights an urgent need to place higher priority on the conservation of the country’s native trees and woodlands.

The charity also warned that other tree diseases and pests must be taken equally seriously.

“The tragedy threatening the UK’s ash trees is a powerful warning that our native trees need help, and underlines the crucial importance of conservation work. Stronger action to protect our trees, including by preventing diseases and pests from entering the UK, is urgently needed,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, executive director of Trees for Life ( pictured ).

“Ash dieback is far from being the only disease posing a risk to our native trees. Dothistroma Needle Blight, for example, is emerging as a potential threat to the Scots Pine – a keystone species of the Caledonian Forest, on which many other species depend – and we have stepped up bio-security measures at our nursery to defend against it.”

Dothistroma Needle Blight, also known as Red Band Needle Blight, has affected Lodgepole and Corsican Pine in Scotland. The Scots Pine, which is the Caledonian Forest’s largest and longest-living tree, was believed to have low susceptibility to the disease. The Scots Pine forms a natural habitat for many species, including the red squirrel, the capercaillie and the pine marten,

However, the Forestry Commission has noted an increase in the distribution and severity of the disease on Scots Pine, particularly in Scotland, although it isn’t yet known whether this will lead to tree mortality or extend significantly into the Caledonian pinewoods.

With increased global trade and tree imports representing a major risk to the UK’s native trees, Trees for Life joined calls for the UK government to hold an emergency summit. This would bring together forestry, plant health and conservation groups to address the threats to native trees and woods. It said that the Government should also place higher priority on conservation work.

Trees for Life has created almost 10,000 acres of new Caledonian Forest since 1989, at 45 different locations in the Highlands. It has planted more than one million trees, with a million more pledged for the next five years. Amongst these emerging forests, a complex web of life is already renewing itself. Habitat restoration is making a notable impact on the wildlife of the Caledonian Forest, which includes the strawberry spider, wood ants, red squirrels, rare sawflies, ospreys and capercaillies.

The charity’s current ‘Million More Trees’ campaign is a response to environmental problems including deforestation, climate change and biodiversity loss.

For more details, see www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 0845 458 3505.

Some Background on Ash Dieback

The UK’s 80 million ash trees are under threat from Chalara ash dieback. Last week, survey results confirmed that the fungal disease is present at 115 sites in Scotland,England and Wales, while Forestry Commission Scotland reported that suspected and confirmed cases of ash dieback have been found following a rapid survey of Scotland’s woodlands.

The disease is believed to have arrived from continental Europe on the wind and via imports. There is no known cure for the disease, although some trees have shown resistance.

A ban on ash imports and the movement of trees from areas with confirmed cases of the disease came into force on the 29th of October 2012, a few days after scientists confirmed that the disease had reached the UK’s natural environment, at sites in East Anglia. On the 9th of November, the Government published an action plan to tackle ash dieback.

Chalara dieback is caused by the Chalara fraxinea fungus. Chalara has affected a high proportion of ash trees in Northern Europe, and was first confirmed as present in the UK in nursery stock in March.

There is no risk to human or animal health from the disease. Data gathered in Denmark, where up to 90 per cent of ash trees have been affected in some areas, suggests that ash dieback can spread about 20 km (12 miles) every year.

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Princess Anne Presents Award To Trees For Life

Environment, News No Responses »

Oct 312012

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

Trees for Life has been honoured with a commemorative plaque from HRH The Princess Royal to mark its creation of a Diamond Wood in Inverness-shire to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

The conservation charity is planting the 60-acre Jubilee woodland of native trees at its Dundreggan Estate, to the west of Loch Ness in Glen Moriston.

The initiative is part of a Woodland Trust project to create 60 new Diamond Woods across the UK, each at least 60 acres in size, to symbolise the 60 years of The Queen’s reign.

The commemorative plaque was presented to Trees for Life’s founder and executive director Alan Watson Featherstone at a special reception at the Palace of Holyrood house in Edinburgh on 22 October 2012.

Alan said:

“We are delighted to be working with the Woodland Trust on this inspiring project. Our Diamond Wood at Dundreggan will be a natural and beautiful tribute to Her Majesty The Queen. It will last for hundreds of years and be enjoyed by many generations of people, as well as providing an important habitat for wildlife in the Highlands.”

The charity’s work at Dundreggan is a key part of its restoration of Scotland’s ancient Caledonian Forest to a spectacular wilderness region of 1,000 square miles to the west of Loch Ness and Inverness. Although only a fraction of the original forest survives, Trees for Life has now created almost 10,000 acres of new Caledonian Forest at 45 different locations in the Highlands. It has planted more than one million trees, with a million more pledged for the next five years.

Surveys on Dundreggan have revealed over 60 species that are priorities for conservation in the UK’s Biodiversity Action Plan. The discovery of rare, endangered and presumed extinct species have established the estate’s reputation as a ‘lost world’ for the Highlands.

People can support Trees for Life’s award-winning work by purchasing dedicated trees to celebrate special occasions. A tree will also be planted for every recipient of a new ‘plant a tree’ winter gift card this Christmas and winter. The charity’s acclaimed volunteer Conservation Weeks offer opportunities to gain practical conservation experience in spectacular surroundings.

For information, see www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 0845 458 3505.

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Western Peripheral Route Not The Solution

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Environment 4 Responses »

Oct 312012

In reply to Barry Black’s article re the AWPR in Aberdeen Voice, Jonathan Russell raises the following concerns:

Debate about the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route came to centre on legal issues. Consequently, proper debate about our transport and related needs has diminished. Here are ten reasons we should not be spending increasingly scarce resources on such a highly expensive venture and, if we do, what needs to be taken into account.

• The generally held position is that the AWPR will solve congestion, yet all known evidence shows increased road space increases congestion. The route may well help in reducing traffic black spots but is also likely to create new ones. Congestion in the city centre is certain to increase. It will encourage people to continue using cars rather than turning, as they are starting to now, to more environmentally effective means like car-sharing, flexi-working, home working, park and ride and cycling.

• There has been a dramatic change in demographics with young families moving to new housing in Aberdeenshire. This would have left the city with an increasingly ageing population had it not been for the influx of largely Eastern European people. What this change does mean, however, is longer journeys when families visit each other and more people travelling into Aberdeen for work and social reasons. The AWPR would escalate this process.

• The potential for new retail parks linked to the road will lead to the demise of more shops in the city centre, leaving Union and George Street looking ever more forlorn. More car journeys to new retail developments will further increase congestion.

• The cost of the AWPR is sure to escalate and at a time of severe public cuts, this will take up precious resources and further affect services to the community, in particular to the more vulnerable.

• If we are to pay for the road without dramatically affecting other services then highly unpopular mechanisms such as road pricing will have to be introduced.

• The Scottish Government has set high targets to meet the challenge of climate change. The AWPR will not help achieve those.

• The road will eat into outlying countryside to the detriment of the environment.

• People heading south are more likely to use cars than trains or buses.

• Resources will be spent on a road when petrol prices are certain to rise in the long term due to the escalating costs of obtaining oil. We should instead be increasing our rail freight capacity and need to find new ways of transporting goods by rail and by sea. We should also be creating more safe cycle links, increasing railway stations and links, subsidising bus fares to encourage more bus use.

• Escalating NHS costs mean we should encourage people to travel by healthier transport than cars e.g. Finland has had great success in this area leading to significantly improved health indicators.

We need desperately to do something about the Haudagain roundabout, but this does not require the Western Peripheral to be built and should be done in a way that when possible encourages people out of of their cars into park and ride and cycling.

Many people genuinely think the Western Peripheral is essential to the North East’s future. Much more thought needs to be given into how it is going to develop and operate and whether it is indeed our best and only option.

Picture Credit: Ian Britton.
Image licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License, FreeFoto FREE USE license.

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Wobblies And Food Sovereignty: Autumn Series Of Talks

Aberdeen City, Environment, Events No Responses »

Oct 292012

The Aberdeen City Arts Board and The Shared Planet Society have teamed up to bring you a couple more thought-provoking events in November.

First up is “The Industrial Workers of the World” taking place on Sunday 4th November, from 2 p.m. at the MacRobert Building, room MR268, Aberdeen University.
In this, the second of Aberdeen City Arts Board’s Autumn series of talks, Dek Keenan will give a broad outline of the organisation’s work and practice both here and abroad as well as provide some historical context.

Dek Keenan is an organiser and key member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The Wobblies, as they are often affectionately known, is an international radical workers’ union whose aim it is to unite all workers, irrespective of trade, with the common purpose of overthrowing the employing class.

It is a rank-and-file organisation with a long and inspiring history. The IWW boasted 100,000 members in the 1920s. More information can be found at http://www.iww.org/ .

For those coming to the University for the first time, a group will meet outside the MacRobert Building, just off King Street near the roundabout at Seaton, to enter the building together.

The second talk, “Food Sovereignty in Practice” will take place on Tuesday November 6th from 7.30pm at the Taylor Building, Aberdeen University.

The speaker is Professor Redimio Manuel Pedraza from the Study Centre for the Development of Animal Production (CEDEPA) at the University of Camagüey Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz,Cuba.

Professor Pedraza will be looking at developments in sustainable agriculture in Cuba and how they relate to the concept of Food Sovereignty.

Professor Pedraza’s presentation will be followed by a screening of Simon Cunich’s film on Food Sovereignty in Venezuela, ‘Growing Change’.

Here is a wee summary of what this is about:

For the first time in human history, over a billion people have been officially classified as living in hunger. This record total is not a consequence of poor global harvests or natural disasters.

Hunger on this scale is the result of a global economy in which hundreds of millions of small farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists and indigenous people have faced ruin through the hijacking of the global food system by large agribusiness and food retailers. The Food Sovereignty movement is a response to this situation.

This is the definition of Food Sovereignty, taken from the declaration of Nyéléni:

“Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.

“It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.

“It defends the interests and inclusion of the next generation.

“It offers a strategy to resist and dismantle the current corporate trade and food regime, and directions for food, farming, pastoral and fisheries systems determined by local producers and users.

“Food sovereignty prioritises local and national economies and markets and empowers peasant and family farmer-driven agriculture, artisanal – fishing, pastoralist-led grazing, and food production, distribution and consumption based on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

“Food sovereignty promotes transparent trade that guarantees just incomes to all peoples as well as the rights of consumers to control their food and nutrition.

“It ensures that the rights to use and manage lands, territories, waters, seeds, livestock and biodiversity are in the hands of those of us who produce food.

“Food sovereignty implies new social relations free of oppression and inequality between men and women, peoples, racial groups, social and economic classes and generations.”

For more information on the definition of Food Sovereignty Please see : http://www.foodsovereignty.org/FOOTER/Highlights.aspx

This event is part of Aberdeen City Arts Board’s Autumn Series and was organised in conjunction with The Shared Planet Society.

For newcomers to the University who may unfamiliar with the geography of the campus, a group will meet outside the Machar Bar on the High Street in Old Aberdeen at 7.15pm and will take the two-minute walk from there to the Taylor Building.

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