Valuable work carried out by a conservation charity to restore and preserve the ancient Highland Caledonian pine forest has received a major boost from Scottish Nautral Heritage (SNH).
Trees for Life plan to plant native trees, remove non-native trees, restore wetlands, remove fences, carry out tree protection measures, plant ground flora and collect seeds and berries. The charity will work to promote peoples’ contact with nature in order to improve health and well-being.
The work will take place at the RSPB Corrimony reserve and on land at Inverinate, Strathconon, Strathfarrar, and Scatwell Estate.
Trees for Life organise week-long ‘conservation holidays’ to provide opportunities for people in the UK and further afield to play an active role in restoring native woodland, learn about its conservation, and become get involved with communities on whose land the trees grow.
Tim Dawson, SNH Area Officer for East Highland, said: “Alongside Forestry Commission Scotland we have supported the work of Trees for Life for a number of years.
“The approach taken by Trees for Life helps us with our work in encouraging volunteering for environmental projects. The work we have recently agreed to fund fits well with our new grant priorities of supporting opportunities for people to appreciate and enjoy the outdoors, encouraging volunteering and learning about Scotland’s landscapes.”
Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life executive director, stressed: “Every year hundreds of volunteers make an invaluable contribution to our work to restore the Caledonian Forest.
“The support of Scottish Natural Heritage is greatly appreciated and provides vital funds for our Conservation Holiday programme, helping to cover the cost of creating planting plans, and food and accommodation for volunteers.
“This latest grant takes on added significance in 2011, the European Year of Volunteering and International Year of Volunteering +10,as our volunteers will be contributing to the success of those international events while they are helping to bring back Scotland’s unique and special native woodlands.”
Giles Brockman of Forestry Commission Scotland’s Inverness, Ross and Skye Forest District, added: “Volunteers can make an important contribution to the huge challenge of managing and maintaining natural habitats. In 2010, Trees for Life achieved 907 volunteer days with Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) across a range of tasks including planting in native woodlands, maintaining open habitats and dealing with rhododendron seedlings.
Volunteer programmes such as those provided by Trees for Life are especially good for engaging and educating the public with conservation messages, giving them a first hand appreciation of the scale of the task faced by land managers and building an immense amount of support for our work.” The SNH contribution was £15,500.