Trees for Life receives the prestigious Millennium Marque Award
Alan Watson Featherstone receiving the Millennium Marque plaque from the Deputy Lord Provost of Glasgow, Jean Macey.
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Wednesday 13 September 2000
In a special ceremony in Glasgow City Chambers today, the conservation charity Trees for Life received the prestigious Millennium Marque Award. Hosted by Glasgow City Council and in the presence of various dignitaries, a bronze commemorative plaque was presented to Alan Watson Featherstone, the charity's founder and Executive Director. The award was given to Trees for Life in recognition of its work in helping to restore the Caledonian Forest in Glen Affric, where the charity has been operating in partnership with Forest Enterprise since 1989.
The Millennium Marque challenge scheme was set up by the Tidy Britain Group in 1995, to award national recognition to projects which demonstrate environmental excellence for the 21st century. Trees for Life is one of only 13 projects in Scotland to receive the Millennium Marque Award, and all of these have been monitored and assessed for the 5 years since 1995, to ensure that the work meets the high standards set out by the scheme.
"We're delighted to receive this national recognition of the importance and quality of the work we are carrying out in Glen Affric, in partnership with Forest Enterprise, to help restore this vital part of Scotland's heritage, the Caledonian Forest", said Alan Watson Featherstone.
"Our project has a time scale of more than a century - it is the generations of people yet to be born who will enjoy the forest we are helping to regenerate. This award for environmental excellence for the 21st century is therefore a significant and timely affirmation of the scale and scope of our work", continued Mr. Featherstone.
This accolade is the latest in a series of awards which the Findhorn-based charity has received for its work. In 1991, Trees for Life was declared the UK Conservation Project of the Year, while in 1999, it was a recipient, for the second occasion, of the Transco Grassroots Environmental Award. It has also twice received awards from the Shell Better Britain campaign.
In its practical work since 1989 in Glen Affric and neighbouring glens, Trees for Life staff and volunteers have planted over 410,000 native trees, and have funded the fencing of 300 hectares (750 acres) of land for forest regeneration and expansion. During that time, thousands of volunteers have taken part in these and other forest restoration tasks. Trees for Life's long term aim is to return the Caledonian Forest to a contiguous area of 600 square miles in the north central Highlands.
Commenting on the announcement, Malcolm Wield, Forest Enterprise's District Manager for the Glen Affric area, said: "Forest Enterprise are delighted that Trees for Life have received the Millennium Marque. For over 11 years now they and their volunteers have been actively helping us to restore ancient woodlands on Forestry Commission ground. It is very fitting that their endeavours have been recognised in this way."
Notes to Editors:
In addition to its partnership with Forest Enterprise, Trees for Life also works in partnership with the National Trust for Scotland, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and various private landowners, to facilitate regeneration of the Caledonian Forest on their lands.
9,000 hectares of land managed by Forest Enterprise on behalf of the nation were declared a Caledonian Forest Reserve in 1994, and are managed primarily for conservation.
Other work carried out by Trees for Life in partnership with Forest Enterprise in Glen Affric includes:
- Propagation and planting out of aspen trees, one of the rarer species in the glen.
- Mapping, surveying and planning regeneration measures for various parts of the forest ecosystem, including riparian woodland and the montane shrub community.
- Organising a series of scientific studies into the ecology of the Caledonian Forest, in conjunction with Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Stirling and Leeds universities.
- A programme of monitoring of the forest restoration, and the removal of redundant fences once the regenerating trees are safe from overgrazing.
The organisational partners of the Millennium Marque scheme in Scotland are: Keep Scotland Beautiful; the Tidy Britain Group; the Scottish Tourist Board; The Conservation Foundation; The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors; the Royal Town Planning Group.
Further information is available from:
Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life
Tel: 01309 691292 - Fax: 01309 691155
Peter Ledgate, Keep Scotland Beautiful
Tel: 01786 471333 - Fax: 01786 464611
Malcolm Wield, Forest Enterprise
Tel: 01320 366322
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