Perthshire company boosts forest restoration

Press Release 2nd July 2008

Contact: Kerrigan Bell. Telephone 01309 691292; Email marketing@treesforlife.org.uk.
 

Award-winning conservation charity Trees for Life has thanked the A. Proctor Group, based in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, for boosting its efforts to save one of the UK’s most stunning forests.

The A. Proctor Group has established its own expanding grove of native trees, supporting Trees for Life’s work of restoring the Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands.

The grove is part of a scheme through which individuals and companies can support Trees for Life by having dedicated trees or groves planted for themselves or as gifts – creating a fantastic habitat for wildlife and people, as well as being a simple, positive step in the fight against climate change.

Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life Founder and Executive Director, said: “We are extremely grateful to the A. Proctor Group for setting up their grove. The Caledonian Forest is Scotland’s equivalent of a rainforest – an ancient and remarkable woodland that needs our help. Every tree and grove planted makes a real difference to securing its future.”

For more than 30 years, The A.Proctor Group Limited has provided technically advanced products to the UK construction industry.

Kenneth Driscoll, Facilities Manager of the A. Proctor Group said: “Since 2005 we have reduced the amount of our waste going to landfill by 50 per cent. We recycle cans, paper, plastic, cardboard and other materials, and compost organic matter from our head office kitchen. We are working on reducing our energy consumption and carbon footprint. So Trees for Life is an important charity for us - it fits in with our environmental focus and makes a positive change for future generations”.

The company’s grove will support Trees for Life’s new commitment to plant a quarter of a million trees during 2008 and 2009. The ambitious is the charity’s latest pledge to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Billion Trees Campaign – a global push to address climate change by encouraging people, organisations and businesses to plant seven billion trees by the end of 2009.

The Caledonian Forest originally covered much of the Scottish Highlands, with native pinewoods in a wild landscape of mountains, lochs and rivers. Today, following centuries of overgrazing and timber production, only one per cent of the forest survives.

People and companies wanting to make a positive, personal difference to the environment while enjoying an inspiring visit to the wild Highlands can also join Conservation Volunteer Weeks. These suit all abilities and anyone over 18 years old can take part.

For more information or to support Trees for Life call 0845 458 3506, email trees@findhorn.org or visit www.treesforlife.org.uk.

Ends

 

Notes to editors

1. Trees for Life is a pioneering charity in ecological restoration. It aims to restore the Caledonian Forest to an area of 1,500 square kilometres in the Highlands west of Inverness. Today only 1% of the original Caledonian Forest remains.
2. Since planting its first trees in 1991 in Glen Affric, Trees for Life has planted over 650,000 trees. It has won several awards for its conservation work, including UK Conservation Project of the Year in 1991.
3. On 5th June 2008, World Environment Day, Trees for Life made a commitment to plant 250,000 native trees by the end of 2009, as the charity’s latest pledge towards the United Nations Environment Programme’s Billion Trees Campaign, which aims to plant 7 billion trees globally by the end of 2009. Trees for Life exceeded its original commitment to the campaign, of planting 100,000 trees in 2007, by planting over 109,000 trees last year.

 

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