Trees for Life project creates conservation opportunities for young people

Phil Duffield from Scottish Power Foundation (centre)
meets Trees for Life volunteers (left-right) Sam Manning,
 Grace Burger, Emily Warner and Rebecca Schmidt
 at Dundreggan Conservation Estate

Award-winning conservation charity Trees for Life is running a new project to develop high-quality conservation volunteering opportunities for young people, thanks to a grant of £20,000 from the ScottishPower Foundation.

Those benefitting from the initiative include students from Peterborough Open Awards Centre, Aberdeen University, Glasgow University and Leicestershire’s Brooksby Melton College.

“This generous grant from ScottishPower Foundation is excellent news for the Caledonian Forest and its rare species, and for dozens of young people who will be able to study and carry out practical hands-on conservation work – including the establishment of native woodlands and managing land for wildlife,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s

Rewilding Scotland and return of lynx in spotlight in Edinburgh

Alan Watson Featherstone

Rewilding Scotland – from restored forests to the return of predators such as the lynx – was in the spotlight at a topical lecture by leading conservationist Alan Watson Featherstone, founder and Executive Director of award-winning charity Trees for Life, at Edinburgh Zoo today (24 March).

The event highlighted the benefits of rewilding – the restoration of damaged natural ecosystems – for Scotland. This includes putting Scotland on the map as a wildlife tourism global hotspot and as a world leader in the international drive to tackle global forest loss.

The lecture was the final one in a special eight-week series that has been running at Edinburgh Zoo this year, focussing on Scottish species diversity and conservation.

Mr. Watson Featherstone said: “In the Highlands 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

ACCLAIMED FILMMAKER PLANTS MILLIONTH TREE IN CALEDONIAN FOREST – ONE OF WORLD’S GREATEST WOODLAND HABITATS

A symbolically important moment in the restoration of one of the “world’s greatest woodland habitats” was celebrated on Sunday 20 May 2012 when acclaimed wildlife cameraman and filmmaker Gordon Buchanan planted Trees for Life’s Millionth Tree in Scotland’s Caledonian Forest.

The event took place at a celebration event held at the award-winning conservation charity’s Dundreggan Estate near Loch Ness, in Glen Moriston, Inverness-shire.

"Magnificent and magical, the Caledonian Forest is a wild place at its most wonderful. Every single tree planted helps to restore one of the world's greatest woodland habitats. One tree will be used by a thousand species in a forest that will stand for 10,000 years, which in that time can be enjoyed by a million people. Great forests are established one tree at a time. I am honoured to plant the millionth tree on behalf of Trees for Life," said Gordon Buchanan.

Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s founder and executive director, said:

Trees for Life Lecture Tour during March and April 2012

LECTURE TOUR CELEBRATES PLANTING OF A MILLION TREES IN CALEDONIAN FOREST

Celebrations for the planting of the Millionth Tree by conservation
charity Trees for Life in Scotland’s Caledonian Forest will be launched in
March with a two-month lecture tour across Britain by the charity’s
founder and executive director, Alan Watson Featherstone.

From Ullapool to Devon, Alan will travel the length and breadth of the
country throughout March and April to inform and inspire audiences with
The Millionth Tree lecture tour. Trees for Life will plant its Millionth

The Porsche Cayennes of Larissa | Habitat Aid's Blog

This topical comment on the Greek economy and its parallels in conservation, by Nick Mann at Habitat Aid is well worth a read.

The Porsche Cayennes of Larissa | Habitat Aid's Blog:

Forestry Commission Scotland - Conserving Scotland’s Red Squirrels - Red squirrel conservation priorities and key actions

Forestry Commission Scotland - Conserving Scotland’s Red Squirrels - Red squirrel conservation priorities and key actions

The FC are starting to release information about their joint plans with SNH for longer term Red Squirrel conservation in Scotland.

Key issues are Grey Squirrel control, Red Squirrel stronghold sites, wider habitat management and habitat effects from planning and development.

Information is a bit sketchy at present so we'll see how it develops. Stronghold areas, as I understand it, will primarily consist of small seeded conifers and, in my opinion, will need to contain a much wider age range and fragmentation of species such as Scots Pine, Larch, Norway Spruce and even Sitka than is currently practised, if it is to be successful.
The issue of larger seeded species attracting Greys is a potential problem as species such as Hazel are a natural part of a Red Squirrel's diet and its habitat.