Edinburgh-based tour company honoured at celebration in Highlands
Press Release12th June 2009
Contact: Kerrigan Bell. Telephone 01309 691292; Email marketing@treesforlife.org.uk.
 Calum Macnee, General Manager of Rabbie’s Trail Burners, plants an aspen tree at Dundreggan to commemorate the company’s support for Trees for Life. |
Edinburgh-based tour company Rabbie’s Trail Burners was honoured by conservation charity Trees for Life last weekend for supporting its work on one of the largest areas in the UK ever bought for forest restoration.
In a weekend-long celebration of the purchase of the 10,000 acre Dundreggan Estate by Trees for Life, the charity’s supporters, directors, staff and special guests gathered on Saturday 6th June at the estate in Glen Moriston, to the west of Loch Ness.
Calum Macnee, General Manager of Rabbie’s Trail Burners, attended the celebration and planted an aspen tree to commemorate the company’s support for Trees for Life.
Trees for Life patrons, author and ornithologist Roy Dennis MBE and author and broadcaster Vanessa Collingridge, were present for champagne toasts, a three course dinner and presentations. A plaque was dedicated to all of the ‘Dundreggan Champions’ whose donations made the £1.65 million purchase of the estate last summer possible.
Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Executive Director, said: “We’re very grateful for the support we have received from Rabbie’s Trail Burners which is helping make our work on the Dundreggan Estate possible.
“The estate is going to be restored as an outstanding wild landscape that will bring great benefits to the environment and Scotland for decades to come. The commemorative trees we’ve planted this weekend symbolise the beginning of our long-term conservation project for this very special area.”
Rabbie’s Trail Burners, whose tours of the Scottish Highlands and islands include visits to Glen Affric, are ongoing corporate supporters of Trees for Life. The company recently donated £1000 raised through a self-imposed ‘carbon tax’ of £10 per tonne of carbon used in operating their tours. Trees for Life were unanimously chosen by Rabbie’s staff as their first choice recipient of these funds.
On Sunday 7th June, there was a free open day at Dundreggan with children’s entertainment by environmental education charity Wild Things!, information and displays on Trees for Life’s award-winning conservation work, and opportunities to explore the estate.
Trees for Life plans to re-connect the ancient Caledonian Forest between Glen Moriston and Glen Affric through the planting of half a million native trees at Dundreggan. This will be accompanied by the return of native species, and by scientific research and education programmes.
Much of the restoration work at Dundreggan will be carried out by volunteers. Individuals and companies can support this work on Conservation Volunteer Weeks, recently selected as one of the world’s Top 10 Conservation Holidays by BBC Wildlife Magazine.
People can also support Trees for Life's award-winning work restoring the Caledonian Forest through specially-dedicated trees and Groves.
For more information call 0845 458 3506, email info@treesforlife.org.uk or visit www.treesforlife.org.uk.
Ends
Notes to editors
- 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.
- Since planting its first trees in 1991 in Glen Affric, Trees for Life has planted over 800,000 trees. Its awards include 1991 UK Conservation Project of the Year, the Millennium Marque in 2000 and Top 10 Conservation Holidays worldwide (in 2009).
- Rabbie’s was established in 1993 to provide high-quality, personal tours for visitors to Scotland. Scheduled tours of 1-5 days visit the Highlands, Islands and West Coast See www.rabbies.com. The company has won a number of awards for sustainability and green tourism including the inaugural VisitScotland Thistle Award for Sustainable Tourism.
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Last updated: 25 August 2010