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Double Boost For Initiatives To Protect Forest And Wildlife

Oct 172014

Conservation volunteers at Athnamulloch Bothy in Glen Affric (courtesy Trees for Life)

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

Plans to protect and restore one of Scotland’s most iconic and beautiful glens – alongside wildlife such as golden eagles, Scottish wildcats and red squirrels – received a double boost last week when charity Trees for Life won funding of almost £80,000 for new forest conservation projects in Glen Affric near Loch Ness.

The initiatives will involve the planting of 20,000 trees, opportunities for hundreds of people from diverse backgrounds to gain health benefits and conservation training, and the creation of an eco-friendly wilderness base at a remote mountain bothy.

Shona Robison – Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games and Sport – announced on Thursday 9 October that Trees for Life will receive £60,000 from the Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund towards the renovation of the Athnamulloch Bothy, which lies to the west of Loch Affric on the National Forest Estate.

The news came just three days after Trees for Life’s Glen Affric Landscape Project secured almost £20,000 from the prestigious European Outdoor Conservation Association, following an online public vote in which more than 4,200 people voted for the conservation charity.

“Securing two major funding awards within a week for our conservation initiatives is fantastic news for the ancient Caledonian Forest and its rare species, many of which are staring extinction in the face – and for the hundreds of people who will directly benefit from these reforestation projects,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Executive Director.

In partnership with Forestry Commission Scotland, Trees for Life’s Athnamulloch Bothy Renovation Project aims to renovate this derelict mountain bothy, creating a warm, weather-tight and eco-friendly wilderness base.

Trees for Life has secured a 25-year lease of the building – located far from normal services – which will be completely refurbished and equipped with ecologically-sound solutions for the on-site provision of water supply, energy and sewerage.

The Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund grant – part of the Scottish Government’s Commonwealth Games Legacy 2014 programme and administered by sportScotland – will cover almost half of the bothy renovation costs. Trees for Life plans to raise funds for the remaining costs through a public appeal and further grants. Those wishing to donate to the project are invited to visit www.treesforlife.org.uk.

Following its success in the European Outdoor Conservation Association awards, Trees for Life’s Glen Affric Landscape Project will see the charity working in partnership with Forestry Commission Scotland – which manages the Glen Affric National Nature Reserve – to enhance and extend the glen’s native Caledonian pinewood and conserve its rare forest-dependent wildlife through activities including the planting of 20,000 trees, removal of non-native trees and plants, and restoration of habitats.

The Caledonian Forest in Glen Affric supports over 1,000 animal species. The pinewoods in the glen’s eastern reaches are one of the largest surviving core areas of native pinewood continuing to benefit from conservation management, but more action is needed for this native woodland to expand westwards.

“Our sincere thanks go to everyone who voted for us in the European Outdoor Conservation Association awards, and to Northshots Photography for nominating us. The award is wonderful news for one of Scotland’s finest wilderness forests, and it will ensure further practical action takes place to reverse centuries of forest loss in the Highlands,” said Alan Watson Featherstone.

These new projects are key elements in an expansion of Trees for Life’s work of rewilding and will create opportunities for hundreds of people from diverse backgrounds – including those from deprived situations or facing challenges to their health, as well as outdoors enthusiasts, local people and community groups – to take part in green exercise and physically active recreation.

The announcements came during a week in which Alan Watson Featherstone and author George Monbiot highlighted the potential benefits of rewilding – the large-scale restoration of damaged natural ecosystems – at a meeting with MSPs at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday, followed by a lecture on the subject to a full house of almost 500 people at the University of Edinburgh.

Trees for Life is restoring the Caledonian Forest, which once covered much of the Scottish Highlands but has been reduced to a fraction of its former range by centuries of deforestation. Many forest remnants consist of old and dying trees, with grazing pressure by red deer preventing the growth of young trees. Remaining forests, such as in Glen Affric, are amongst our most fragile and endangered habitats.

The charity has pledged to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018, and is marking its 25th anniversary this year with expanded opportunities for volunteers. See www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 0845 458 3505.

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Rewilding Scotland – Return Of Lynx And Wolf

Articles, Environment, Featured 1 Response »

Oct 102014

Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in winter birch forest, Norway (c).

Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in winter birch forest, Norway © Peter Cairns www.northshots.com

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

The return of predators, such as the lynx and wolf , were in the spotlight at a topical lecture featuring acclaimed writer George Monbiot and award-winning conservationist Alan Watson Featherstone of Trees for Life, in Edinburgh on Wednesday
With enthusiasm for ‘rewilding’ spreading quickly in the UK, the Rewilding the World event highlighted the significant benefits that this could bring to Scotland.

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.”

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

“Rewilding offers an exciting vision of hope, through the positive and practical work of renewing and revitalising ecosystems. In the Highlands we have the opportunity to reverse environmental degradation and create a spectacular, 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 to enjoy.”

The latest thinking on rewilding – including recent and remarkable scientific discoveries – has been captured in George Monbiot’s highly-praised and gripping book, Feral, that lays out a positive environmental approach in which Nature is allowed to find its own way.

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

Yet action across Scotland in recent years has offered signs of what could be achieved by restoring natural processes and protecting wilderness areas, and by reducing human interference in ecosystems.

In the Highlands considerable efforts to restore and expand native forests have led to the establishment of a new generation of trees – and their associated plants, insects and other wildlife – at many sites. High-profile successes include the re-establishment of healthy populations of birds of prey such as the sea eagle, osprey and red kite, and the trial reintroduction of European beavers at Knapdale in Argyll.

George Monbiot and Alan Watson Featherstone argue that far more needs to be done however, and advocate a more ambitious approach to bring wide-ranging benefits to wildlife and people, while putting Scotland on the map as a wildlife tourism global hotspot.

Scotland is also ideally placed to be a world leader in an international drive to slow, halt and reverse global forest loss. In a major announcement at the UN Climate Summit in late September, world leaders, companies and campaigners pledged in the New York Declaration of Forests to restore 150 million hectares of degraded landscapes and forests by 2020 and end deforestation by 2030.

Future rewilding could involve the reinstatement of missing species, including apex predators such as the Eurasian lynx and even the wolf, both of which play a crucial top-down regulatory role in ecosystems.

While the reintroduction of predators is often proposed as a means of reducing excessive numbers of red deer in the Highlands, its 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.

The lynx – already reintroduced to areas of Europe such as the Alps and Jura mountains – offers little threat to sheep. 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.

Leading volunteering conservation charity Trees for Life is restoring Scotland’s ancient Caledonian Forest, and has pledged to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018. To mark its 25th anniversary this year, it is offering expanded opportunities for volunteers to support its work and gain conservation experience.

The Rewilding the World event was organised by the University of Edinburgh’s Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability as part of Edinburgh World Justice Festival.

George Monbiot – well known author and columnist for The Guardian – is currently setting up an organisation to catalyse the rewilding of land and sea across Britain. See www.monbiot.com.

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Funding Hope For Conservation Of Iconic Scottish Glen

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Sep 262014

Hopes of protecting and restoring a magnificent Highland glen and its rare wildlife – including golden eagles, red squirrels and Scottish wildcats – have received a major boost after conservation charity Trees for Life was named as finalist for a major European funding project, with the winner to be chosen after an online public vote. With thanks to Richard Bunting.

The charity’s Glen Affric Landscape Project is in the running to secure almost £20,000 in the European Outdoor Conservation Association’s ‘Outdoor’ funding scheme, with online voting taking place over two weeks until Monday 6 October. Trees for Life can be supported via www.treesforlife.org.uk/voteTFL.

The Trees for Life project will also create opportunities for outdoor activity and hill walking groups, local people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds to take part in practical action to help reverse the loss of native woodlands and rare wildlife in the Highlands.

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

“We are asking people to vote for us and help make the most of this opportunity to protect one of Scotland’s finest wilderness forests. Glen Affric has been described as the most beautiful glen in Scotland, and this is a golden opportunity to help conserve its wildlife and wild places, and to reverse centuries of forest loss”

The Caledonian Forest at Glen Affric supports over 1,000 animal species. The pinewoods in the glen’s eastern reaches represent the largest surviving core area of native pinewood which continues to benefit from conservation management. But there is still much work to do to encourage this native woodland to expand westwards and this project will make a big contribution to achieving this.

Working in partnership with Forestry Commission Scotland, which manages the Glen Affric National Nature Reserve, Trees for Life aims to enhance and extend the iconic glen’s native Caledonian pinewood and conserve its rare forest-dependent wildlife through a range of activities, including the planting of 20,000 trees as well as endangered plants. Non-native trees and plants will be removed and habitats restored.

Key to this will be hands-on forest restoration training and volunteering opportunities for hundreds of people through forest skills courses, volunteer restoration days and conservation weeks.

Guided walks and leaflets will allow hundreds of outdoor enthusiasts to learn more about the Caledonian Forest and how to help conserve Scotland’s threatened habitats and species.

The project also aims to boost the local and Highland economy through a growth in visitors for nature-based tourism, hill walking and outdoor and adventure pursuits. It will lay the foundations for a longer-term initiative to create a forest habitat corridor from Loch Affric to Scotland’s west coast – leaving a lasting legacy of an expanded forest landscape and increased wildlife, transforming the experiences of outdoor users in the Highlands for future generations.

The Caledonian Forest supports a unique range of species. Once covering much of the Scottish Highlands, centuries of deforestation have reduced the forest to a fraction of its former range. Many forest remnants consist of old and dying trees, with grazing pressure by red deer preventing the growth of young trees. The remaining forests, such as in Glen Affric, are amongst our most fragile and endangered habitats.

Trees for Life is a leading conservation volunteering charity that has planted more than one million trees at dozens of sites in the Highlands. It has pledged to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018, and this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The charity was kindly nominated for the European Outdoor Conservation Association funding award by Northshots Photography.

For more details about how to vote, please see www.treesforlife.org.uk/voteTFL or call 0845 458 3505.

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New Forest Legacy To Commonwealth Games

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Jun 102014

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

A new Commonwealth Forest near Loch Ness has been established as a lasting and green legacy to this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, in an initiative being launched by conservation charity Trees for Life during Legacy Week (9-13 June).

Trees for Life has planted 6,500 trees in the new forest at its Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston – one for every athlete competing in the Games, with Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Moray MSP Richard Lochhead planting the 6,500th tree.

The award-winning charity aims to expand the new forest with the support of spectators who attend the Commonwealth Games. Donors from across the Commonwealth will be asked to plant a tree to support their national team, and track which nation is doing the most to support the Commonwealth Forest.

The project will boost the international profile of Scotland’s spectacular landscapes and wildlife, and also allow visitors to the Games to reduce the impact of their carbon footprint.

The initiative received a ringing endorsement from the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Moray MSP Richard Lochhead, who praised efforts to expand the ancient Caledonian Forest in the Highlands.

Richard Lochhead MSP said:

“The Caledonian Forest offers visitors some of our most majestic landscapes. I would encourage visitors who are coming to the Commonwealth Games to go further north and explore these woodlands and many other parts of Scotland’s stunning natural environment.

“It is excellent news that this project is helping to expand these woodlands and importantly creating a lasting legacy from the Games that generations of people will enjoy.”

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

“The Commonwealth Games are a huge opportunity for the whole of Scotland. The Commonwealth Forest initiative will stand tall over the Highland landscape for centuries to come, providing a vital habitat for many endangered species of native wildlife. This will be a wonderful legacy to leave in the wake of Scotland’s year of sport.

“During the Games, many thousands of visitors will be travelling to Scotland. Whether by air, rail, or car, this will have a hugely significant carbon impact. We want to offer Games-goers from across the world the chance to mitigate the impact of their carbon emissions, by contributing to a unique and lasting green Games legacy in the wild heart of the Scottish Highlands.

“It takes just a few seconds to donate, and from £5 per tree this is a cheap, easy way to help make these a truly green Commonwealth Games.”

With less than 50 days to go before Glasgow 2014, Legacy Week is celebrating initiatives that will deliver lasting benefits from Scotland’s hosting of the Games. The ambition is to promote Scotland as a frontrunner in delivering nationwide benefits from hosting a major sporting event.

People can donate to the Commonwealth Forest by visiting treesforlife.org.uk/CoFo or texting COFO14 £5 to 70070. One tree costs £5.

Games-goers will be encouraged to use Trees for life’s online ‘carbon calculator’ to work out how many trees to plant to mitigate their carbon impact.

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25 Years Of Action Celebrated at ‘Lost World’ Estate

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May 302014

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

A quarter century of pioneering conservation action was marked by Trees for Life on Sunday 25 May 2014.
A celebration open day was held at the award-winning charity’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston, Inverness-shire.

Dozens of supporters and local people gathered at the acclaimed biodiversity hotspot near Loch Ness for a day of activities, and to celebrate Trees for Life’s first 25 years of restoring the ancient but endangered Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands.

Moray MSP Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, planted the final tree of Trees for Life’s ‘Celebrate’ project, through which volunteers have planted 6,500 trees, one for each athlete at the Commonwealth Games.

Special guest BBC presenter, writer and Trees for Life Patron Vanessa Collingridge planted the charity’s 25th anniversary tree. Drew Hendry, Leader of Highland Council, planted a tree to commemorate the dedication of the charity’s thousands of volunteers.

Cyclist Tim Judge arrived from London by bike, after cycling 600 miles in six days. The gruelling journey was part of Tim’s challenge of cycling 5,000 miles on his bike Issy to raise £1 per mile for Trees for Life.

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said:

“These magnificent Caledonian woodlands, which to many people are synonymous with Scotland, are one of our most highly prized natural assets, and conserving and expanding these beautiful woodlands is vitally important for the integrity of our landscape and the vitality of our biodiversity.

“Trees for Life has played an important part in that conservation effort and 25 years of restoration is certainly something to celebrate, especially in this Year of Homecoming that focuses on Natural Scotland.

“I would also like to think that planting a tree for every Commonwealth Games athlete will encourage some of them – and the many thousands of visitors who will be joining us – to take the time to experience Scotland’s woodlands for themselves.”

Drew Hendry, Leader of Highland Council, said:

“I was delighted to plant one of the commemorative trees at Dundreggan Conservation Estate. Trees For Life’s work at this flagship project on natural regeneration and biodiversity aligns very well with the Highland Biodiversity Action Plan, and with Highland Council’s long-term commitment of achieving a carbon neutral Inverness in a low carbon Highlands by 2025 – our Carbon CLEVER Highlands initiative.”

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

“During the past 25 years, thousands of volunteers and many generous donors have helped us to breathe new life into Scotland’s equivalent of a rainforest. More than a million trees have been planted or regenerated, more than 10,000 acres of new forest created, and hundreds of lives transformed through the benefits of time spent carrying out positive conservation action in green places.

“I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this remarkable achievement, and everyone who will help us in the future as we expand and extend our innovative work to restore the world-class wildlife and landscapes of the Highlands.”

The celebration day included guided walks to explore ancient woodlands and spot wildlife, opportunities to meet and feed wild boar and learn about their role in restoring the forest, and children’s activities including animal tracking, pond dipping and games.

A new Trees for Life exhibition ‘From Caledonia to the Commonwealth’, a stunning photographic exploration of ancient forests across the Commonwealth, was officially launched by Vanessa Collingridge. The exhibition is part of the charity’s ‘Celebrate’ project, funded with support from the National Lottery funded Celebrate programme.

Dundreggan is Trees for Life’s flagship project. The 10,000-acre estate has been described as a Highlands “lost world”, with more than 3,000 species identified so far – including 10 species never recorded in the UK before.

With the Caledonian Forest being one of the UK’s most endangered habitats and with many of its rare species in danger of extinction, Trees for Life aims to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration, by 2018. People can help by becoming a member, carrying out conservation action, sponsoring trees for special occasions or sponsoring an acre of native forest. See www.treesforlife.org.uk.

Tim Judge can be supported in his cycle challenge at www.justgiving.com/GingerBittersOnABike. Tim’s progress can be followed at www.strava.com/athletes/gingerbittersonabike.

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Unique Community Purchase For Highlands Project

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May 232014

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

Plans for a major new pinewood restoration project in the Scottish Highlands have been given the go-ahead, after Forestry Commission Scotland agreed to sell 1,086 hectares of woodland at Glen Mallie and South Loch Arkaig in Lochaber to a Highland community group which is working in partnership with the conservation charity Trees for Life.

This marks a major milestone in efforts to restore the ecologically important but rare native Caledonian Pinewood habitat.

The Achnacarry, Bunarkaig and Clunes (ABC) Group and Trees for Life now have 18 months to raise £500,000 to buy the land, following which they will begin a process of native woodland restoration and of restoring the links between the local community and the wild and remote country on the south side of Loch Arkaig.

This is believed to be the first time that a conservation charity has partnered with a community group to purchase surplus Forestry Commission land under the National Forest Land Scheme. The scheme, administered by Forestry Commission Scotland, gives communities and non-governmental organisations the opportunity to acquire state-owned forest land which has been declared ‘surplus’ by the Forestry Commission.

Gary Servant of the ABC Group said:

“This is a great opportunity for the local community to secure real benefits in terms of sustainable rural development, to support local land-based jobs and livelihoods whilst at the same time helping to protect, restore and expand these important remnants of native Caledonian Pine Forest.”

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

“We are delighted that Forestry Commission Scotland has approved the bid to purchase this native pinewood site, which is rich in biodiversity and historical importance. We now have a unique opportunity to take a significant step forwards in achieving our vision of a renewed Caledonian Forest in the West Highlands, while bringing real social and environmental benefits to the remote rural Lochaber community. Our challenge now is to raise the funds required to make this vision a reality.”

He added:

“This exciting project offers a unique opportunity to pioneer an innovative partnership between a conservation charity and a local community group, which could be a valuable model for efforts elsewhere in the Highlands to achieve native woodland restoration on a significant scale whilst at the same time securing substantial rural development benefits for local people.”

The Glen Mallie and South Loch Arkaig forests contain iconic native pinewood remnants that were damaged by fire during Commando Training in the Second World War, and were subsequently acquired by the Forestry Commission and underplanted with commercial conifers in the 1970s.

The long-term aim of Trees for Life and the ABC Group is to restore the native pinewoods and other natural habitats of the area to the benefit of both people and biodiversity.

The forests were declared ‘surplus’ by Forestry Commission Scotland in September 2013 as part of its national repositioning strategy. The ABC Group formally applied to purchase the land in February 2014, after completing a draft business plan, with support from the National Lottery ‘Investing in Ideas’ fund, and conducting a postal ballot of local residents.

Trees for Life was invited to become a key project partner due to its expertise in native pinewood restoration and in actively promoting practical action for woodland conservation. Forestry Commission Scotland then held a 28-day open consultation, for the public to comment on any aspect of the proposal. An independent panel of experts made a detailed evaluation of the project and has now recommended its approval.

Award-winning Trees for Life already owns and manages a significant area of woodland, having purchased the 10,000-acre Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston near Loch Ness in 2008.

Today only a fraction of the former native Caledonian Pinewood habitat survives in the form of around 80 pinewood remnants in the north and west of Scotland, but Trees for Life has planted more than a million trees and has created 10,000 acres of new forest.

The charity aims to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018, creating expanded habitats for Scotland’s remarkable and rare wildlife, including species that are in danger of extinction.

Throughout this year, Trees for Life is celebrating 25 years of pioneering conservation action. People can support the charity by becoming a member, carrying out conservation action, sponsoring trees for special occasions or sponsoring an acre of native forest. See www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 0845 458 3505.

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‘Lost World’ Open Day Celebrates 25 Years Of Conservation Action

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May 162014

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

Moray-based conservation charity, Trees for Life, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special celebration open day at its acclaimed Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston, to the west of Loch Ness, Inverness-shire on Sunday 25 May 2014, from 10.30 am – 5.00 pm.

Members of the public are warmly invited to attend the free event and to join BBC presenter, and Trees for Life Patron, Vanessa Collingridge for a day of activities at this renowned biodiversity hotspot, as the award-winning charity marks a quarter century of restoring the ancient but endangered Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands.

An exciting programme of entertainment includes guided walks to explore ancient woodlands and spot wildlife, opportunities to meet and feed wild boar and learn about their role in restoring the forest, and children’s activities including animal tracking, pond dipping and games. There will be talks on conservation, a barbeque and all-day refreshments.

A new Trees for Life exhibition ‘From Caledonia to the Commonwealth’ – a stunning photographic exploration of ancient forests from countries across the Commonwealth – will be exclusively launched. The exhibition has been made possible by support from the National Lottery funded Celebrate programme.

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

“Everyone is invited to join us for a great day out to celebrate our 25th birthday and the world-class wildlife and landscapes of the Highlands.”

The 10,000-acre Dundreggan estate is Trees for Life’s flagship project. It has been described as a Highlands “lost world”, with more than 3,000 species identified there so far – including 10 species never recorded in the UK before.

Over the past 25 years, Trees for Life has planted more than a million trees and created 10,000 acres of new forest. The charity aims to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018, creating expanded habitats for Scotland’s spectacular and rare wildlife.

For details about the celebration open day, see www.treesforlife.org.uk/celebrationday/index.html or call 0845 458 3505. Dundreggan is located approximately one hour southwest of Inverness, on the A887.

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New Action For Threatened Woodlands And Species

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Mar 202014

Pine Marten. © Laurie Campbell www.lauriecampbell.com.

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

With concerns over the state of many Scottish woodlands, and fears for the long-term survival of iconic species including red squirrel, pine marten and capercaillie, the conservation charity Trees for Life is marking its 25th anniversary this year with a significant expansion of its forest restoration work across the Highlands, and with new projects focusing on the recovery of endangered species.
Trees for Life is now extending the geographical range of its forest restoration activity, from its previous project area of 1,000 square miles west of Inverness and Loch Ness, and is exploring opportunities to restore neglected and derelict Caledonian pinewoods in other parts of Scotland.

At the same time, the charity is developing a wider range of ecological initiatives to conserve forest species.

New projects will deliver practical field research, habitat assessments and species relocations to aid the conservation of key species such as pine marten, red squirrel and wood ants.

Trees for Life’s Executive Director Alan Watson Featherstone commented.

“Without urgent action, key parts of Scotland’s ancient Caledonian Forest could be lost forever, and forest-dependent wildlife such as the Scottish wildcat and capercaillie could become extinct in the UK,”

“As we celebrate 25 years of pioneering conservation action, including the planting of more than a million trees by our volunteers, and the creation of 10,000 acres of new Caledonian Forest, we aim to increase the impact and scale of our work. We want to ensure that our children and grandchildren also have the opportunity to enjoy Scotland’s wild landscapes and its rare and spectacular wildlife.”

Less than half, 46 percent, of Scotland’s native woodlands are in “satisfactory condition for biodiversity” and much must be done to reverse centuries of damage, according to Scotland’s first complete survey of these important habitats, published by Forestry Commission Scotland last month. The report found that natural regeneration of native pinewoods is scarce.

Following a long history of deforestation, the Caledonian Forest reached a critical point some 200 years ago, with too few remaining trees and too many deer eating seedlings – leaving ‘geriatric’ forests of old trees. Today, only a fraction of the former forest survives, with 35 isolated remnants of native pinewoods.

The need for concerted conservation action, and the lack of young trees to replace mature specimens when lost, is also being exacerbated by the threats posed by climate change and extreme weather, and the risk of disease affecting the Scots pine, which forms the forest ecosystem’s ‘backbone’ and on which many species depend.

“We want people to get involved through volunteering or financial support, to help restore Scotland’s threatened habitats and species. Wildlife tourism generates millions of pounds every year, so bringing new life to impoverished woodlands and barren glens can bring economic as well as environmental benefits,” said Alan Watson Featherstone.

The charity’s plans for 2014 include an ambitious project at Trees for Life’s flagship Dundreggan Conservation Estate, a biodiversity hotspot in Glenmoriston near Loch Ness. They paln to convert a 300-hectare commercial plantation of non-native trees planted by a previous owner back to native woodland. This will involve the felling of the alien conifers and a pioneering mire restoration scheme, funded by a grant from Scottish Natural Heritage. The whole project will take over 10 years to complete.

Dundreggan is also home to one of Scotland’s greatest concentrations of the nationally scarce dwarf birch, Betula nana.

An area will be fenced off for restoration of these ‘wee trees’, as part of a broader plan to create a woodland link between Glen Affric and Glenmoriston, and to expand this habitat for species including black grouse, ptarmigan and golden plover.

A programme of research on forest ecology will also be carried out at Dundreggan, and the estate will host a 25th anniversary open weekend on 24th – 25th May.

Meanwhile, a new tree planting project will begin in a Caledonian pinewood remnant at Culligran in Glen Strathfarrar in the autumn.

Trees for Life has pledged to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018, creating expanded habitats for wildlife including strawberry spider, wood ants, red squirrels, rare sawflies and ospreys. Over the past year, the charity has expanded its volunteer Conservation Weeks and Conservation Days, offering more opportunities for people to gain conservation experience.

Trees for Life’s story began in 1986 when Alan Watson Featherstone made a commitment to an environmental conference at Findhorn to launch a Caledonian Forest restoration project. Practical activity began in June 1989, with tree guards used to protect Scots pine seedlings in Glen Cannich from being eaten by deer. In 1991, volunteers began planting some of the first new trees to grow in the forest for 200 years.

Trees for Life has grown into an award-winning, leading conservation volunteering charity, with a dedicated staff team and thousands of supporters and volunteers. Wildlife film maker Gordon Buchanan planted the charity’s millionth tree at Dundreggan in 2012, and Trees for Life played a key role in the successful campaign for the Scottish Parliament to name the Scots pine as the country’s national tree.

People can support Trees for Life by becoming a member, carrying out conservation action, sponsoring trees for special occasions or sponsoring an acre of native forest. See www.treesforlife.org.uk.

Trees for Life’s awards include UK Conservation Project of the Year, Millennium Marque, Top 10 Conservation Holidays worldwide, Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Environment Award (2012) and RSPB Nature of Scotland – Outstanding Contribution to Nature Award (2013).

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Action Needed To Ensure Scotland’s National Tree’s Future

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Feb 072014

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

Trees for Life’s Alan Watson Featherstone with a giant Scots pine recently uprooted by severe storms at Dundreggan Conservation Estate

Concerted action is needed to ensure a secure future for the Scots pine, which last week was declared Scotland’s national tree, leading conservation volunteering charity Trees for Life said today.

The charity – which played a key role in the campaign that led the Scottish Parliament on 30 January to name the Scots pine as the country’s national tree – is warning that higher priority must be given urgently to the conservation of Scotland’s pinewoods.

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

“Declaring the Scots pine – bastion of the Caledonian Forest and one of the world’s most beautiful trees – as a national symbol sends a signal to the world that Scotland values its trees as an important part of its culture and identity. But with alarm bells ringing for this remarkable tree’s future, we should strengthen conservation action now.

“Our national tree is under siege from climate change, extreme weather and disease. We owe it to future generations to ensure its long-term survival by being world leaders in reforestation.

“We call on the Government to use the upcoming revision to the Scottish Rural Development Programme – the principal funding stream for forest schemes in Scotland – to ensure that support for native pinewood restoration is maintained and enhanced.”

This winter’s severe storms have highlighted the vulnerability of even well-established Scots pines to extreme weather, something that is likely to increase with climate change – and also the lack of young trees to replace mature specimens when lost.

During the unusually powerful storm that struck north Scotland on 5-6 December 2013, several giant Scots pines at Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate near Loch Ness were uprooted and blown over, and others badly-damaged. Some of these trees were probably more than 200 years old. Some ancient pines were also lost in the Glen Affric National Nature Reserve.

Such losses are part of a forest’s natural cycle, creating light gaps where new life can begin, and trees will eventually grow there again. Yet the full process will take decades or more, and it will be at least 200 years before trees comparable to those lost reach maturity. Loss of habitat provided by large mature pines can have a significant impact on biodiversity, as species that are dependent on old trees have nowhere else to live.

this disease has affected Lodgepole and Corsican Pine in Scotland

This also highlights the lack of young or even 100-year-old pines to replace mature trees and so ensure the survival of Scottish pinewoods. Overgrazing by sheep and deer for two centuries has prevented natural regeneration of native pinewoods throughout the Highlands.

In a healthy forest ecosystem, deer numbers would be in balance with regenerating trees – but imbalances in the Highlands landscape have created a 200-year generation gap for Scots pines. Until fencing and conservation-oriented deer culling began in the last two decades, there were no trees younger than 150 years in most locations.

Another potential threat is Dothistroma Needle Blight. Also known as Red Band Needle Blight, this disease has affected Lodgepole and Corsican Pine in Scotland. The Scots pine was believed to have low susceptibility to the disease.

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.

Fortunately, active restoration measures are underway for many of Scotland’s best pinewood remnants. Trees for Life itself has planted more than one million trees at dozens of sites in the Highlands, and has pledged to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration by 2018. Such positive actions need to be developed and enhanced.

Scots pine, formally known as Pinus sylvestris, is the largest and longest-lived tree in the Caledonian Forest, forming a ‘backbone’ in the forest ecosystem on which many other species depend.

The tree provides a home for wildlife including red squirrels, capercaillie and crossbills; ideal nesting sites for ospreys; shelter for deer and pine martens; and shade for twinflower, one-flowered wintergreen and blaeberries. Its richly textured bark is a wonderful habitat for lichens, mosses and insects.

The campaign for Scotland to have a national tree and for it to be the Scots pine was begun by campaigner and Trees for Life supporter Alex Hamilton, who – accompanied by Alan Watson Featherstone – took this call to the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee in January 2013. A consultation on whether Scotland should have a national tree began last September.

Trees for Life urged the Scottish Government and Parliament to adopt the Scots pine as this symbol.

Today only a fraction of the former Caledonian Forest survives, with its native pinewoods reduced to 35 isolated remnants. Trees for Life is restoring the forest to a wilderness region of 1,000 square miles in the Highlands to the west of Loch Ness and Inverness. For details, see www.treesforlife.org.uk

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Planting Scotland’s Wee Trees

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Dec 132013

With thanks to Richard Bunting.

A group of hardy volunteers braved the cold and ventured to Coire Sneachdta, in Glen Affric National Nature Reserve, to take part in conservation charity Trees for Life’s ‘wee trees’ planting day on 27 November.
This project was made possible thanks to a grant through the CSV Action Earth scheme, which supports volunteers across Scotland in making a positive difference to their local environment.

As part of this year’s CSV Action Earth campaign, Scottish Natural Heritage has supported more than 170 projects – including Trees for Life – with grants aimed at groups helping and encouraging volunteering through practical environment projects.

Project Coordinator for Trees for Life, Mick Drury, said:

“We were pleased to welcome so many people along on the tree planting day, to help us plant 150 dwarf birch and 300 willow cuttings. It really was all about the volunteers, from those who grew and nurtured the seedlings in the nursery, to those who dug deep and planted the trees themselves.

“Thanks to CSV Action Earth and Scottish Natural Heritage, we’ve been able to buy the tools needed to carry out this vital project, which will shape the future of Scotland’s mountain woodland. We were delighted to team up once again with Forestry Commission Scotland, which manages the site, to deliver this project with a great result.”

To find out more about how to get involved with the work of Trees for Life, visit www.treesforlife.org.uk or call 0845 458 3505.

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