An initiative to plant trees in Scotland has reached a major milestone of 1.5 million ahead of World Conservation Day on Sunday.
The Future Forest Company has planted and mainted a range of native broadleaf species and Scots pine trees across numerous sites in Scotland since they were launched in 2020. It was set up in a bid to increase efforts to contribute to reforestation, biodiversity and conservation across Scotland.
It’s a huge milestone to reach ahead of July 28, the annual day around the world for raising awareness about the importance of protecting natural resources and ecosystems on the planet.
The sites include Dumyat, Brisbane Mains, Pleasantfield, Mill of Plunton, Montegreenan, Carston and Leadloch and all of the trees planted range between one and three years old. They’ve been planted by hand to ensure the best chance of survival and the Future Forest Company maintain and monitor them to replace any that fail when needed.
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It comes despite issues within the Scottish forestry world. A group of campaigners, Stobo Residents Action Group, have been awarded a judicial review to challenge a decision Scottish Forestry’s decision to allow a scheme to build 700 hectares of mostly Sitka spruce on the John Buchan Way to go ahead without an Environmental Impact Assessment.
The Forest Research statistics shows that more than 15,000 hectares of new forests were created in Scotland during the 2023/24 planting period and included a healthy conifer of 8,720 hectares alongside 6,320 hectares of broadleaf planting.
The Future Forest Company’s contribution to this included a total of 327.4 hectares of new woodland, made up of predominantly native species such as oak, birch and rowan.
The numbers are still not at the level the independent Climage Change Committee advises for Scotland, with advice of 18,000 hectares of new woodland per year by 2025 to fight the damaging effects of climate change. The UK is told to plant 30,000 hectares as part of the same plans.
Jamie Adcock is the Senior Forest Manager at the Future Forest Company and admits it’s a great milestone but insists the work needs to be done and celebrated all year round and not only on World Conservation Day, although that does provide a good opportunity to remind people of the importance of fighting climate change.
He said: “World Conservation Day is an excellent opportunity to celebrate and contribute to the preservation of our natural world. This day serves as a reminder of the critical role each individual, communities and businesses play in safeguarding the environment for future generations to come.
“But our work at the Future Forest Company doesn’t just centre around one day of the year. We work persistently throughout the entire year to support the environment and our natural habitats, and we’re pleased to announce we have reached yet another milestone in our tree planting efforts.
“The Earth is currently facing several challenges such as climate change, loss of habitat for wildlife, deforestation, and more due to the increasing pollution and heavy consumption of non-renewable resources.
“By planting more trees, not only can we help restore and protect natural habitats and endangered species, but we can also help combat climate change. I would like to say a huge thanks for the support of our corporate tree planting partners, individual sponsors and volunteers for all of their efforts in helping us to achieve this milestone.”
Around a quarter of all UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species are associated with trees and woodland, and the Future Forest Company’s projects are an essential habitat for a diverse range of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, plans and fungi all of which will contribute to the continues good health of forests across the country.
Given the issues already mentioned around the proposed plans for the John Buchan Way, one of the Future Forest Company’s promises is to engage with the local community throughout the design and planting process and they will attend in-person events and collate online feedback on the plans for each site.
Reforestation and biodiversity specialists at the company also work closely with residents and organisations in the surrounding area to positively impact the local community and widers usrs of each of their woodland sites.
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