Vision for collaboration to make Glen Affric forest reach from coast-to-coast

Glen Affric National Nature Reserve could be at the core of an unprecedented collaboration between landowners and communities to create an unparalleled forest corridor stretching from Scotland’s east to west coast, says a new film from Forest Enterprise Scotland and conservation charity Trees for Life.  

Narrated by acclaimed cameraman and filmmaker Gordon Buchanan, the five-minute film – ‘Glen Affric: A landscape worth restoring’ – celebrates 60 years of

Filmmaker backs bid to transform derelict bothy into wilderness base

Athnamulloch Bothy in Glen Affric

A leading wildlife filmmaker is backing a bid by Trees for Life to transform an iconic but derelict mountain bothy into an eco-friendly weather-tight base that will be used to launch a quarter century of forest restoration in one of Scotland’s great wildlife wildernesses.

Glasgow-based cameraman and filmmaker Gordon Buchanan – well known from television programmes such as Big Cat Diary and Springwatch – is supporting the conservation charity’s appeal to raise £30,000 to renovate Athnamulloch Bothy in Glen Affric on the Forestry Commission Scotland managed

Buckingham Palace reception for Trees for Life celebrates Jubilee Wood

Right to left at Buckingham Palace
Executive Director Alan Watson Featherstone;
 Trees for Life patron Gordon Buchanan,
Rosalind Grant-Robertson, who generously supported
Trees for Life’s purchase of Dundreggan;
Steve Morris, Operations Manager for Dundreggan

Trees for Life’s creation of a Diamond Wood in Inverness-shire to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 has been recognised at a Buckingham Palace reception this week (27 March), hosted by HRH The Princess Royal.

 

The event recognised the creation of 60 new Diamond Woods across the UK, each at least 60 acres in size, to symbolise the Queen’s 60-year reign. As part of this tree planting campaign, Trees for Life planted a new 60-acre Jubilee woodland of native trees at its Dundreggan Estate, to the west of Loch Ness in Glen Moriston.

 

Two million trees have been planted across Scotland in a range of locations during this project, which was organised by The Woodland Trust.

Gordon Buchanan Announced as New Patron for Trees For Life

Gordon planting Trees for Life’s
Millionth Tree, accompanied by
Alan Watson Featherstone,
Trees for Life’s Executive Director

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

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: