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Return Of The Reds: Reintroduction Hope For Iconic Species

Nov 102016

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR.

Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in mid flight in forest, Scotland. © Peter Cairns.

An innovative project to boost the number of the UK’s red squirrels by relocating individuals to woodlands they cannot reach by themselves is taking a major step forward this month.

Conservation experts at the charity Trees for Life will carefully relocate red squirrels from Inverness-shire and Moray to forests near Kinlochewe and at Plockton, where the species is currently absent despite there being suitable habitat for squirrels.

The Red Squirrel Reintroduction Project aims to establish 10 new populations in the northwest Highlands, significantly increasing both the numbers and range of the red squirrel in the UK.

“We are giving red squirrels a helping hand to return to some of their long-lost forest homes. Many Highland woodlands offer the species excellent habitat far from disease-carrying grey squirrels – but because reds travel between trees and avoid crossing large areas of open ground, they can’t return to isolated woodlands without our help,” said Becky Priestley, Trees for Life’s Wildlife Officer.

The next two releases follow a successful first reintroduction in March this year, when the charity relocated 33 red squirrels from Forres and Strathspey to native woods at Shieldaig in Wester Ross.

This new population has also bred during the summer, with several young squirrels observed – confirming that the area is excellent habitat with a good natural food supply.

There have also been regular sightings reported by local people, with the squirrels ranging widely as they explore nearby habitat. Trees for Life is continuing to monitor the population, with surveys planned for later this year.

Another success has been high levels of community involvement. Residents near the relocation sites have been monitoring the squirrels and carrying out supplementary feeding, while people from whose gardens the squirrels were removed have visited Shieldaig to see the expanding new population.

“Involving local communities is a big part of this exciting rewilding project. People love helping red squirrels and having them move into their local area,” said Becky Priestley.

In the next phase of the project, this autumn 70 red squirrels will be relocated to the privately-owned Coulin Estate next to Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve near Kinlochewe, and to Plockton, which is owned by landowners including conservation charity The National Trust for Scotland. These sites have good habitat with significant potential for the species to spread into surrounding areas.

There will be opportunities for people to help with monitoring the new squirrel populations, by reporting sightings and by taking part in surveys during the winter.

With animal welfare paramount, the project involves squirrels being transported in special nest boxes, lined with hay for comfort, and provisioned for food and hydration. Only small numbers of squirrels are removed from any site, so that donor populations are unaffected. Health checks ensure that diseased animals are not introduced to new populations.

At the reintroduction sites, the boxes are fixed to trees, with exit holes lightly filled with grass – allowing the squirrels to find their way out. Food is provided for several months while the squirrels become accustomed to their new habitat.

In the UK, red squirrels are now rare with only an estimated 138,000 individuals left – their numbers decimated by the reduction of forests to isolated remnants, and by disease and competition from the introduced non-native grey squirrel.

The Red Squirrel Reintroduction Project has been made possible by grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and People’s Trust for Endangered Species. It involves volunteer opportunities, landowner partnerships, and research to strengthen conservation. All relocation sites require comprehensive habitat assessments, landowner agreements, and a five-year licence from Scottish Natural Heritage.

For details about Trees for Life’s award-winning work to restore the Caledonian Forest in the Highlands, visit www.treesforlife.org.uk.

Pictured: Red squirrel © Peter Cairns www.scotlandbigpicture.com

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New Way To Measure Biodiversity At Rewilding Hotspot

Articles, Environment No Responses »

Sep 292016

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR.

dundreggan-birch-trees-blue-sky-cloud-formation2

Birch trees at Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate

An innovative study of soundscapes at Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate aims to reveal new findings about woodland health and the richness of wildlife at the 10,000-acre biodiversity hotspot.
Composer and audio specialist Huw McGregor has carried out an initial investigation at the Inverness-shire estate as part of his Woodland Soundscape Project, using purpose-built sound recording equipment to collect and monitor forest sounds.

He hopes to develop a new way of measuring biodiversity at Dundreggan, by providing fresh data on the diversity and populations of species, and also to inspire people to visit and enjoy woodlands.

“People have long enjoyed forest sounds, but using modern technology to study the soundscapes of these precious habitats offers a new way of better understanding their development over time, and the diversity and behaviour of their wildlife,” said Huw McGregor.

“Strengthening understanding of our sonic environment, and its links to ecological health, can provide a useful new way of measuring the impact of conservation work. It’s fantastic to be working with Trees for Life, because rewilding is so important for the wellbeing of our children and the natural world.”

Dundreggan – Trees for Life’s flagship forest regeneration site – is gaining an international reputation for its biodiversity. It has been described as a Highlands ‘lost world’, where more than 3,000 species have been discovered, including 10 found nowhere else in the UK and others that are extremely rare.

Huw’s initial recordings at the site include the dawn and dusk choruses. Such recordings can be used to study bird population numbers and the range of species, as well as how species use different spaces to alter their songs or how sounds such as waterfalls, roads and human activity affect their behaviour.

Data on bird species can also be used as an indicator for overall biodiversity, and Huw is seeking funding to allow a deeper investigation of Dundreggan’s birdlife.

A permanent audio record will be gathered that could be used to help provide a detailed examination of Dundreggan’s ecological health, and to track progress in strengthening its biodiversity.

Encouraging people’s enjoyment of woodlands is also part of the project. Recordings of a ‘sound walk’ of Dundreggan’s waterfalls offer a sonic experience of the falls, for example, and musical sounds around rock pools have also been gathered. Some of Huw’s Dundreggan recordings feature on a new ‘Forests Of The World’ CD, available for free listening and download via woodcraftproductions.com.

Huw is also looking to explore woodlands in the Czech Republic and Wales, to develop the soundscape project into a wider study across nations. For more details about his work, see www.huwmcgregor.tk.

Award-winning Trees for Life – one of Scotland’s leading conservation charities – is restoring the Caledonian Forest in the Highlands to one of the UK’s wildest landscapes. See www.treesforlife.org.uk.

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Tree-planting Journey Maps Scotland’s Lost Woods

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Sep 162016

ariel-killick-adventures-with-the-gaelic-tree-alphabet-medium

Gaelic storyteller Ariel Killick.

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR.

The lost woods and wildlife of the Highlands are to be rediscovered thanks to a new Gaelic place-name map project led by conservation charity Trees for Life, which will promote the cultural importance of Scotland’s native woodland heritage.

The initiative was launched with a two-day, 20-mile symbolic journey – Turas Nan Craobh: A Journey With Trees – from Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston to Fort Augustus and Invergarry on 10 and 11 September 2016.

Native trees were transported by two ponies and planted at key sites where place-names evoke a particular tree.

Members of the community, school pupils, artists, heritage and walking groups, and Trees for Life ecologists followed sections of old military and drove roads. Gaelic storyteller Ariel Killick and poet Alec Finlay took part in special events.

“Place-names contain a record of past ecology and can shed light on the woods and wildlife that once thrived in the Highlands and could do so again, with a little assistance from people,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Founder.

“With native woodland now covering just four per cent of Scotland – one of the lowest percentages in Europe – we want to inspire communities and schools to discover more about our cultural and native woodland heritage, and to involve them in restoring the endangered Caledonian Forest.”

Participants in the Journey with Trees planted trees in gardens, school grounds and community green spaces, and in places where place-names evoke trees, such as Achadh-nan-darach – field of the oaks – on Abercalder Estate.

Poet Alec Finlay will now create the map – which will be used by schools and community groups, and to encourage tourism to less well-known areas – by exploring place-names relating to woodlands, animals, geology and human dwellings in Glen Affric, Glen Urquhart, Glenmoriston and Glen Garry.

His research will seek to identify place-names that indicate the past presence of woodland or animals, such as Creag a’ Mhadaidh – the wolf crag – in Glenmoriston, and Beinn Eun – hill of the bird – in Glen Affric. Old maps, photographs, artefacts, census information, newspaper articles and older people’s knowledge will all be used.

The map – called ‘From Creag a’ Mhadaidh to Dubh-Chamas nan Ùbhlan’ or ‘From The Wolf’s Crag to The Dark Bay of Apple Trees’ – will be created in stages, with place-names revealed as new findings are uncovered. It will be used in school and community events focused on rewilding and Gaelic in the landscape, and to encourage tourists to visit locations such as Glenmoriston, Glen Urquhart and Glen Garry.

Grace Grant of Glengarry Community Woodlands said:

“Our lovely historic woodland is part of our local heritage, and as we plan its regeneration we are delighted to work with Trees for Life.”

Alec Finlay’s blog at www.alecfinlay.com will feature information from the map together with poetry, linked to Trees or Life’s website at www.treesforlife.org.uk.

More Info:

The mapping project is part of Trees for Life’s Rewilding the Highlands project, which also involves the planting of more than 50,000 trees and the creation of wildlife habitats. The project won the Alpine category of the 2016 European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) scheme, securing £23,000 through an online public vote.

Partners in the project include Glengarry Community Woodlands, Storyline Scotland, and The Scottish Storytelling Centre’s #DareTo Dream initiative.

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Bioblitz: Discovering Glen Affric’s Wonderful Wildlife

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Aug 042016

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR.

Trees for Life volunteer looking at a lichen.

Conservation charity Trees for Life is holding a public Bioblitz day in Glen Affric on Sunday 14 August, from 10.30am – 3.30pm, for anyone who wants to discover more about wildlife in the famous glen.

Everyone is welcome to call in at The Quarry car park near the end of Loch Beinn a’Mheadhoin, and to join in the free activities.

A group of wildlife specialists will be on the lookout for plants, fungi, insects, birds and mammals, and will be displaying interesting findings during the day.

There will be opportunities to make mini nature reserves, join bug hunts and guided walks, and hear a storyteller recount tales from forest folklore. The Bog Cotton Café will be on site, selling tea, coffee, cake and other delicacies from their village kitchen in Cannich.

Natural history groups joining the Bioblitz include specialists from Butterfly Conservation Scotland, British Dragonfly Society, Forest Enterprise Scotland, National Trust for Scotland and RSPB. Young Scot’s National Youth Biodiversity Action Group will be running activities for people of all ages.

Trees for Life is an award-winning conservation charity dedicated to restoring the endangered Caledonian Forest and to protecting its rare wildlife from extinction, and so far has created 10,000 acres of new forest. It has pledged to establish one million more trees, by planting and natural regeneration, by 2018.

People can support Trees for Life by becoming members and by funding dedicated trees and groves. Volunteers carry out almost all of the charity’s practical conservation work, including through

Conservation Weeks in beautiful locations. See www.treesforlife.org.uk.

The Bioblitz event is part of Trees for Life’s Glen Affric Forest Restoration Project, which won the Outdoor category of the 2014 European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) scheme, securing £20,000 through an online public vote.

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Superdry Donates £12,500 To Save Caledonian Forest

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Jul 212016

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR.

TfL’s CEO Steve Micklewright (left) and Paul Thomas, Superdry’s Energy and Environment Manager, at Dundreggan Conservation Estate.

Trees for Life’s work to save Scotland’s ancient Caledonian Forest and its rare wildlife has been given a welcome boost thanks to a £12,500 donation from fashion brand and retailer Superdry.

The donation was raised through sales of carrier bags from the company’s stores across Scotland, with its staff members voting for the funds to benefit award-winning conservation charity Trees for Life.

Superdry’s Energy and Environment Manager Paul Thomas recently spent a day at Trees for Life’s acclaimed Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston near Loch Ness, to present the donation and to see some of the practical conservation action being carried out there – including the charity’s tree nursery where 60,000 native trees are grown each year.

Paul said:

“We are really proud to be supporting Trees for Life’s restoration of the Caledonian Forest, one of the country’s most iconic but endangered habitats. A healthy environment benefits everyone, and it’s inspiring to support this project which is bringing new life to the wild landscapes of the Highlands.”

Steve Micklewright, Trees for Life’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

“Initiatives like this make a real difference, with every £5 allowing us to plant a tree and every £50 enabling us to restore 50 square metres of native woodland. So this donation from Superdry is very good news for Scotland’s equivalent of a rainforest, and it will generate long-lasting benefits for woodlands, wildlife and people.”

Scotland’s 5p charge on carrier bags in stores aims to reduce plastic bag use. Superdry has gone one step further for the environment by ensuring that its bags are made of easily biodegradable paper rather than plastic.

Today only a fraction of the former Caledonian Forest survives, but Trees for Life 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 by 2018.

People can support Trees for Life by becoming members and by funding dedicated trees and groves. Volunteers carry out almost all of the charity’s practical conservation work, including through Conservation Weeks in beautiful locations. See www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 0845 458 3505.

Superdry (www.superdry.com) is a contemporary brand focusing on high-quality products that fuse vintage Americana and Japanese-inspired graphics with a British style. It has gained an international celebrity following, and has a growing worldwide presence, operating through 515 Superdry branded locations in 46 countries. Superdry prides itself on great customer service and a hassle-free returns policy.

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Bothy Reborn As Eco-Friendly Rewilding Base

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Jun 022016

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR.

An iconic but once derelict mountain bothy in Glen Affric has been transformed into an eco-friendly rewilding base by Trees for Life – creating the springboard for an ambitious 25-year programme of forest restoration which will extend Scotland’s Caledonian Forest towards the country’s west coast.

Around 100 people gathered at the remote Athnamulloch Bothy – which lies west of Loch Affric, on the National Forest Estate managed by Forest Enterprise Scotland – on Sunday 29 May to celebrate the building’s £137,000 renovation, which has been funded by generous donations and grants.

Broadcaster, writer and Trees for Life Patron Vanessa Collingridge officially reopened the bothy by unfurling a ceremonial sash featuring the tartan of Clan Chisholm, whose traditional homelands include Glen Affric. Environmental education charity Wild things! laid on activities for children, and guests were able to enjoy behind-the-scenes tours and a guided walk to the first trees planted by Trees for Life, in 1991.

“Saving Athnamulloch Bothy from dereliction – and giving it an exciting new lease of life as a base for conservation volunteering to help rewild one of Scotland’s great natural areas – represents a new era for our restoration of the Caledonian Forest in Glen Affric’s western reaches,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Founder.

“Our sincere thanks go to everyone who has helped make this project succeed. We can now embark on ambitious large-scale forest restoration work in partnership with Forest Enterprise Scotland, in which our volunteers will plant another 250,000 trees – extending Glen Affric’s endangered forests westwards, and creating crucial forest corridors and habitats for rare wildlife.”

Until the bothy became unsafe and was closed in 2008, Trees for Life’s volunteers used it for 17 years as a base for planting the first new Scots pines to grow in the area for centuries. With significant tree planting in the remote location virtually impossible without a place for volunteers to stay, the conservation charity undertook an ambitious fundraising drive to save the bothy.

In a major boost, almost half the costs were covered by a £60,000 award from the Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund, part of the Scottish Government’s Commonwealth Games Legacy 2014 programme.

Trees for Life secured the remaining funds through its Build the Bothy public appeal – fronted by broadcaster and wildlife filmmaker Gordon Buchanan – and further grants, including £20,000 from the Moray-based Gordon and Ena Baxter Foundation, £15,000 from The Robertson Trust, £10,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation and £1,000 from the James Thin Charitable Trust.

Highland Council was also very helpful in enabling a building in such a remote location to meet today’s stringent building control standards.

The bothy has now been renovated to a high ecological standard while retaining its rustic character. A kitchen, living room, bedrooms, drying room, wood burning stoves, composting toilet and a bathroom with eco-friendly energy and water systems have been installed, new timbers and flooring have replaced rotten woodwork, and a porch now provides for drier entry into the building, which is crucial given the area’s very wet climate.

Trees for Life has signed a 25-year lease for the building with Forest Enterprise Scotland, and the names of those who donated at least £250 are listed on a commemorative plaque in the building.

From Athnamulloch Bothy, Trees for Life is now launching its Back to Our Roots initiative. In partnership with Forest Enterprise Scotland, this will extend the native Caledonian Forest beyond its current stronghold in the east of the glen towards Scotland’s west coast – creating a continuous corridor of woodland across this part of the Highlands, and providing habitats for many species long lost from these deforested landscapes.

Through its Back to Our Roots fundraising appeal, the charity is seeking to raise £18,000 to fund the first phase of this tree planting and habitat creation, and to help achieve its ambition to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration across the Highlands by 2018. For details, see www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 01309 691292.

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‘Project Wolf’ Helps Restore Highland Woodland

Environment, Featured No Responses »

May 272016

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR.

Alpha wolf pack Dora, James and Matt (medium)

Pictured (L-R): Volunteer wolf pack Dora Clouttick, James Robertson and Matt McMullen at Dundreggan Conservation Estate

‘Project Wolf’ – a unique new conservation programme in which volunteers replicate the natural disturbance effects of Scotland’s extinct predators – has been launched in the Highlands near Loch Ness by Trees for Life.

Project Wolf is being trialled at the charity’s acclaimed Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston, Inverness-shire, lying to the west of Loch Ness.

It involves volunteers operating in teams of three ‘wolves’, regularly walking through the ancient woodlands during the night and at dusk and dawn, creating disturbance that will keep deer on the move.

“Grazing pressure on young trees by too many deer, today undisturbed by natural predators, is the major threat to Scotland’s native forests. This is starkly apparent in the surviving Caledonian Forest, where many remnants consist only of old and dying trees because young trees cannot survive the relentless browsing,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Founder.

“Project Wolf – an innovative answer to this challenge – is supporting our reforestation work by creating a ‘landscape of disturbance’. By walking through Dundreggan’s woodlands at unpredictable times, the volunteers mimic the effect of wolves in keeping deer on their toes and less likely to spend time leisurely eating seedlings and young trees.

“This will encourage new trees to flourish – giving them the chance to form the next generation of forest giants that are desperately needed if the Caledonian Forest is to survive.”

The initiative is taking place during spring and early summer, when – without hunting activity or the presence of large predators – there is nothing to prevent deer from feasting on newly emerging seedlings and the new season’s growth on any young trees.

“Project Wolf is backed by a growing body of research which shows that predators have a much wider impact on their prey than just the animals they manage to hunt and kill. In many ways, the fear that the presence of predators generates in prey animals is just as important as their direct impacts,” said Doug Gilbert, Trees for Life’s Operations Manager at Dundreggan.

Spaces for volunteers for the Project Wolf programme are currently filled, with each volunteer joining for one month only, and Trees for Life is operating a waiting list for those wanting to take part.

In return for their sleepless nights, the volunteer ‘wolves’ are already encountering memorable wildlife experiences, as they are out and about when most people are asleep but when many species are active. Dundreggan is home to many nocturnal creatures including badgers, pine martens, foxes, owls and bats.

Project Wolf is part-supported by funding that Trees for Life received after winning a global conservation competition in March this year. The charity’s broader Rewilding the Highlands project – which also involves the planting of 50,000 native trees and the creation of habitats to offer a lifeline to rare wildlife – won the Alpine category of the 2016 European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) scheme, securing £23,000 as a result of an online public vote.

For more information, see www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 01309 691292.

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25th Anniversary Bid To Extend Glen Affric Woodlands

Articles, Environment, Featured 1 Response »

Apr 142016

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR

A quarter century of volunteering conservation action in the Highlands is being marked by Trees for Life this month, with a new initiative aiming to expand Scotland’s Caledonian Forest from Glen Affric towards the west coast.
The bid to restore life to deforested parts of the famous glen comes as the award-winning charity next week marks the 25th anniversary of its acclaimed Conservation Weeks, in which volunteers from around the world carry out practical conservation action to protect Scotland’s natural environment.

Trees for Life’s Back to Our Roots appeal is seeking to raise £18,000 for a new phase of tree planting by volunteers in Glen Affric this year – extending the endangered Caledonian Forest westwards of the area planted by the charity’s first Conservation Weeks 25 years ago, and creating vital habitats for wildlife.

“Back to Our Roots is an important new phase of our work in partnership with Forest Enterprise Scotland in Glen Affric. It will extend the native woodland beyond its current stronghold in the east of the glen towards Scotland’s west coast, creating a continuous corridor of forest across this part of the Highlands,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Founder.

“Helping a new generation of young trees to take root further west in Glen Affric will create an important addition to what is the largest extent of least disturbed forest in the country. This will provide habitats for a host of species – including some, such as the red squirrel, that have been lost from these deforested landscapes for far too long.”

The Caledonian Forest is an internationally-important forest ecosystem, providing a home for spectacular wildlife. But today the forest occupies a tiny fraction of its former extent and – decimated by centuries of exploitation and overgrazing – it consists of small and isolated fragments, mainly old trees nearing the end of their lives.

Over the past 25 years, however, Trees for Life’s volunteers have helped to plant more than one million trees at dozens of locations across the Highlands. The first of those trees – 5,800 Scots pines – were planted in Glen Affric in April 1991, including during the charity’s first ever Conservation Week, which was based at Athnamulloch bothy and began on 20 April.

Since then, through the work of Forest Enterprise Scotland and Trees for Life, a remarkable transformation has taken place in parts of Glen Affric, with a new generation of trees creating a reforested landscape – in turn offering much-needed habitat that now supports a flourishing population of plants, insects, birds and wildlife, including the rare black grouse.

Through Back to Our Roots, Trees for Life aims to build on this success story, and to help achieve its ambition to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration across the Highlands by 2018.

For more information, see www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 01309 691292.

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Trees For Life Wins Global Competition

Environment, News 1 Response »

Apr 012016

IMG_3907 Scots pines in snow with blue sky at Coille Ruigh na Cuileigemed

Scots pines at Coille Ruigh na Cuileigemed

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

Scotland’s only entry in a leading global conservation competition has won funding of more than £20,000 to address biodiversity loss and deforestation in the Highlands, including through the planting of 50,000 native trees and the creation of habitats that will offer a lifeline to endangered and rare wildlife.

Trees for Life’s Rewilding the Highlands initiative has won the Alpine category of the 2016 European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) Conservation Vote, securing more than 7,000 votes and widespread social media support in a tightly contested international online vote that was held between 8-22 March.

The success will allow the charity to establish one of the UK’s most inspiring examples of rewilding. This will involve ambitious habitat creation to support wildlife including pine marten, red squirrel, golden eagle and Scottish wildcat, the planting of 50,000 native trees, and also the annual growing of 10,000 rare montane tree species, at Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston to the west of Loch Ness.

“This is fantastic news for Scotland’s Caledonian Forest and its endangered and rare wildlife, as well as for the many people who will benefit from our Rewilding the Highlands project, which is about people as well as places. Our sincere thanks go to everyone who supported us,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Founder.

Trees for Life also aims to boost the local and Highlands economy by promoting Glenmoriston as a tourist destination, where people can enjoy the great outdoors and discover remarkable wildlife. Central to this will be Dundreggan, a ‘lost world’ biodiversity hotspot where more than 3,000 species have been discovered, including 10 found nowhere else in the UK and others that are extremely rare.

There will also be opportunities for local people and visitors to get involved in conservation initiatives, and for volunteers from different walks of life to gain training in conservation. Support will be given to a local community project at Invergarry, to enhance biodiversity at its Glengarry Community Woodland.

The EOCA Online Conservation Vote attracts huge interest internationally with national media, politicians, presidents and celebrities getting involved. Trees for Life was Scotland’s only finalist in the competition’s three categories, which also featured projects from as far afield as central Asia, Brazil, The Caribbean, Ecuador, Madagascar and Nicaragua.

For more information, see www.treesforlife.org.uk.

Trees for Life is an award-winning conservation charity whose volunteers have planted more than one million trees at dozens of sites in the Highlands, and which has pledged to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018. See www.treesforlife.org.uk.

EOCA works to support valuable conservation work by raising funds from within the European outdoors sector and by promoting care and respect for wild places. See http://www.outdoorconservation.eu.

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Rewilding Highlands And Return Of Lynx In Spotlight

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Jan 142016

With thanks to Richard Bunting, Director, Richard Bunting PR.

Alan Watson Featherstone, founder of award-winning charity Trees for Life

Rewilding the Highlands – from restored forests to the return of predators such as the lynx – are the focus of topical lectures taking place in Exeter and Plymouth featuring acclaimed writer George Monbiot and leading conservationist Alan Watson Featherstone, founder of award-winning charity Trees for Life.

The sold-out events at the University of Exeter and the University of Plymouth highlight the benefits of rewilding – the restoration of damaged natural ecosystems, and the return of keystone species – including for people’s wellbeing.

Plymouth University has a close connection with Trees for Life. Since 2011 staff and students from the university’s School of Biomedical and Biological Sciences have been researching the biodiversity of the forest canopy at the charity’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate near Loch Ness.

Alan Watson Featherstone – who at the end of 2015 was awarded an alternative New Year’s honour by The Guardian newspaper, in a celebration of the heroes of the year – said:

“Rewilding offers an exciting vision of hope. In the Highlands of Scotland we have an opportunity to reverse environmental degradation and create a world-class wilderness region – offering a lifeline to wildlife including beavers, capercaillie, wood ants and pine martens, and restoring natural forests and wild spaces for our children and grandchildren.”

George Monbiot said:

“Rewilding offers us a big chance to reverse destruction of the natural world. Letting trees return to bare and barren uplands, allowing the seabed to recover from trawling, and bringing back missing species would help hundreds of species that might otherwise struggle to survive – while rekindling wonder and enchantment that often seems missing in modern-day Britain.”

The two events – organised by the Network of Wellbeing (NOW, www.networkofwellbeing.org), together with Exeter University and Exeter Community Initiatives in Exeter, and in Plymouth with Plymouth University – will help to explore the links between rewilding and wellbeing, and highlight ways in which people can get involved in initiatives in their own communities.

This includes taking inspiration from Trees For Life as a practical, grassroots organisation through which people can connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and give – five ways to wellbeing based on 40 years of international research.

Trees for Life (www.treesforlife.org.uk) is restoring the ancient Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands, and offers many opportunities for volunteers to support its work and gain conservation experience.

Today few areas of the world are truly wild and in the UK, even Scotland is no exception. Long-term deforestation and overgrazing by too many deer and sheep has left much of the land depleted and barren, with wildlife in retreat or missing. The Caledonian Forest – Scotland’s equivalent of a rainforest – is one of the UK’s most endangered habitats, with many of its rare species facing extinction.

Yet action across Scotland is showing how restoring natural processes and protecting wilderness areas, and reducing human interference in ecosystems, can make a positive difference. This includes the restoration of native forests at many Highland sites, the re-establishment of birds of prey such as sea eagles, ospreys and red kites, and the trial reintroduction of European beavers at Knapdale in Argyll.

Future rewilding could involve the reinstatement of missing species, including apex predators – which play a crucial top-down regulatory role in ecosystems. Trees for Life believes that the Eurasian lynx – already reintroduced to areas of Europe such as the Alps and Jura mountains – is a realistic candidate for reintroduction. It offers little threat to sheep and none to humans.

It is a specialist predator of roe deer, a species which has multiplied in Britain in recent years and which holds back the natural regeneration of trees through intensive browsing.

The latest thinking on rewilding – including recent scientific discoveries – has been captured in George Monbiot’s highly-praised and gripping book, Feral, which lays out a positive environmental approach in which Nature is allowed to find its own way. George – well-known author and columnist for The Guardian – is also a key supporter of Rewilding Britain, a charity working for the mass restoration of ecosystems in Britain, on land and at sea. See www.rewildingbritain.org.uk.

NOW’s holistic approach to wellbeing shows that personal, social and environmental wellbeing must all be approached together – which means that rewilding, by enhancing nature, can have a great role to play in enhancing people’s wellbeing.

People can follow online conversation around the rewilding events on Twitter by using the hashtag #RewildingWell.

Background – reintroducing the lynx.

Across Scotland high numbers of deer are having a negative impact – through overgrazing and trampling – on reforestation, habitat quality, biodiversity and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and flood prevention. The loss of native carnivores means that deer now have no natural predators.

The reintroduction of a top predator is crucial, and the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is a realistic candidate. The species is still present in many northern and eastern – and some southern – countries in Europe. It represents no threat to humans, and there are no European records of anyone ever being attacked by a lynx.

While the reintroduction of predators is often proposed as a means of reducing excessive numbers of red deer in the Highlands, the main impact would likely be in disturbing deer populations – causing these animals to move more frequently so that their grazing is less concentrated in specific areas.

Trees for Life believes the lynx could be reintroduced to the UK by 2025. Restoring enough native woodland as habitat would be crucial, and some experts estimate that the Highlands could support a genetically viable population of 400 animals.

Experts are uncertain as to when the lynx died out in Britain, although some discoveries suggest its extinction date may have been some 1,500 years ago.

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