Help Trees For Life restore the Caledonian Forest
by Nicola Alexander on 17/08/10 at 12:25 pm
Trees for Life is an award-winning charity working to help restore the Caledonian Forest, which formerly covered a large part of the Scottish Highlands.
Just 1% of the original forest survives today, as isolated stands of mostly old trees. Since 1989 Trees for Life has been helping to bring this forest back from the brink, both through natural regeneration and by planting trees. Their long term vision is to restore the forest, and all its constituent species, to a 900 square mile area west of Inverness, including our 10,000 acre Dundreggan Estate.
Such restoration work is not a passive process - they have to roll our sleeves up and help Nature do its work. To date they have planted over 820,000 trees, and have fostered the growth of many thousands more naturally regenerating seedlings.
Working on their estate at Dundreggan and in effective partnerships with organisations such as the RSPB and Forestry Commission Scotland, they invite volunteers to help deliver their programme of practical work on the ground.
The Caledonian Forest needs you!
Most of the practical work done by Trees For Life to restore and re-wild the Caledonian Forest is carried out by volunteers who work for a week at a time, in groups of up to ten, at sites across the Scottish Highlands. It’s a wonderful experience to be involved in this inspiring project and to meet people from all kinds of backgrounds committed to the same goals.
To go on a Work Week you need to be over 18 and prepared to get a bit weather-beaten! There’s no upper age limit and you don’t need to be super-fit. You’ll probably find yourself clambering about the countryside carrying a spade and a bundle of tiny trees, so if you think you can do that you are fit enough. There’s an occasional “gentle week” at the tree nursery for volunteers who’s knees can’t cope with the clambering.
Conservation work takes place on five days and volunteers are treated to a midweek day off, in which they can do as they please. The work varies depending on the location and time of year, but generally involves a mixture of planting native trees, removing small non-native trees and removing old fences to help the flow of wildlife. Not all weeks involve tree planting while other weeks are dedicated solely to the task. There’s something for everyone!
Work Weeks run in the spring and autumn every year and there are 47 separate weeks running in 2010 alone.
Life on a Work Week is very communal and volunteers work in pairs to cook for the whole group each evening. Sleeping accommodation varies between the different work sites, it may be a single big bunk room for everyone, two ‘his’ and ‘hers’ bunk rooms, or shared twin and double bedrooms in holiday chalets.
While every day is different – and being the Scottish Highlands the weather can change every hour! – the sense of team spirit, and of doing something positive for both yourself and the planet are the common factor.
This year, for the first time ever, Trees for Life is running a Women Only Week starting on 11 September. This has been created in direct response to feedback from volunteers. It is designed for women only and will be led by female staff. This will run as a normal Work Week, with prices starting at £70.
For more information on this or any of Trees for Life’s Work Weeks, visit its website and follow the volunteering links. Alternatively, call or email 01309 691444 or rosie@treesforlife.org.uk.
This article is sponsored by Trees For Life.
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