Caledonia Wild! Winter 2002-3
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Trees for Life magazine, Caledonia Wild! Winter 2002-03 |
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Deepening the restoration process
As I write this in late November, the leaves have all fallen off the trees, daily temperatures are dropping and it's light for about seven hours a day. It is the quiet time of year, when much of the creative vitality of Nature turns inwards. As we approach the depths of winter, the same process is reflected in my own life - I spend most days indoors, and there is more time for reflection and contemplation. It is the season, then, of deepening, and this is paralleled in the work of Trees for Life just now, as our work of ecological restoration is moving to a new and deeper level.
 Healthy regeneration of Scots pines and birches on the south shore of Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin in Glen Affric. However, restoration of the Caledonian Forest involves much more than just the growth of a new generation of trees. |
Looking back over the decade and a half since Trees for Life began, our efforts concentrated initially on the regeneration and restoration of the Scots pine, the most important tree in the native pinewoods. Then, over the years we expanded our focus to include work on other trees, such as aspen, and key elements of the forest ecosystem, such as riparian woodland and the montane shrub zone. Now, we stand poised on the threshold of another stage of development, as we expand our focus to include other components of the forest community - the woodland flowers, insects such as wood ants, and the processes of pollination, predation, succession and symbiosis which weave the forest's parts together into a healthy, functioning ecosystem.
This deepening is inspired by the forest itself. The first trees we planted or protected are now well-established, and they are providing a new habitat for plants, animals, insects and fungi. They, in turn, are drawing us into a deeper understanding of their relationships with the rest of the forest, and of their importance to the restoration process.
This has led directly to the establishment of the woodland flora project which was introduced in our last magazine, and it is also providing the impetus to expand our existing projects for aspen and mountain woodland. Our goal with both of these is to establish them as properly-funded parts of our ongoing work, each with their own full-time programme officer. Thanks to the generosity of two supporters, Lisa and Geoff Sharp, we will implement this for the mountain woodland project early in 2003, and we are currently seeking the funds to do this for aspen.
The deepening of our restoration work is also reflected in Caledonia Wild!, which we have expanded to 16 pages in each issue. A new series of articles will focus on different aspects of the Caledonian Forest ecosystem, beginning in this edition with features on forest fragmentation and non-native species.
For me, though, there is another, more personal, dimension to this deepening of the restoration process. As our work moves forward, I find myself becoming more connected not only to the forest, but also to some of the most important qualities in life, such as hope, healing, and the power of an individual to make a positive difference in the world. Those qualities, in turn, strengthen my commitment to working for the restoration of the forest, and from that will come another stage of our project. So the cycle of life (and Trees for Life) goes on...
Alan Watson Featherstone
Holding the future in our hands
Achnashellach - a vision for the future
As we stand on the hillside at Achnashellach, my mind's eye conjours a vision of realities to come: the pinewood covers the contours like a shawl comforting the old bones of the Earth. Spreading crowns of granny pines harbour a safe environment for the multitude of organisms, large and small, that each play their vital role in the intricate web of life that is the forest ecosystem. The landscape, clad in a raiment of varied greens, swells up in billows of woodland: this is how it should be!
Paul Kendall and I are standing with Bruce Taylor, of Forest Enterprise, looking down across the valley to the remnants of Scots pine woodland, hemmed about in places by plantations of non-native conifers, and separated from one another by open heather moorland. We are here to define future work for volunteers, trying to target our efforts to best advantage and coordinate with the large-scale felling of plantations that will be undertaken by contractors with chain saws or big forestry machines. Bruce is passionate about the return of widespread native woodland here, so we are also developing a cohesive strategy to reconnect the remnants, over a period of time, with supplementary planting in areas which are remote from a seed source.
Elsewhere at Achnashellach, all the hard work of blocking drainage ditches and felling Sitka spruces, to restore the natural floodplain woodland in the valley bottom, is now bearing fruit in the form of extensive regeneration of alder, willow and birch. Even in the space of the 18 months since I was last here, I can see a marked difference in the recovery process of this important riparian woodland.
With patience and dedication the vision of a substantial area of pine woodland, linked to the alder and willow carr by the river, will be realised and a richness and diversity will be returned to this landscape.
Adam Powell
Mission Most Possible
 'What are we? What are we? ... we're mushrooms!' Pupils from Cradlehall Primary with Tim Dafforn. Photo by Jennie Martin. |
This Autumn, in addition to our ongoing 'Lady Caledonia' educational programme for school children (see Caledonia Wild! Winter 2001) we piloted an exciting new day trip called 'Mission Sylvestris'.
Designed for the upper years of primary school, this programme came about as a result of a wonderfully creative two weeks I had working with Tim Dafforn, an environmental educator from England, and a primitive survival training course I was privileged enough to participate in during the summer.
This new programme starts with a character called Sylvestris, a top secret agent (a bit like 'M' in James Bond or 'Charlie' in Charlie's Angels) needing 'green agents' to check on the health of a forest and report back to him via a coded message.
'...I have sent one of my top agents, Evergreen, to help you navigate your way through this challenge.
The forest you are entering is one of the best specimens of a wild wood in the northern hemisphere and I am sending you in to report on the state of this national treasure...
... Remember: be sensitive, take only necessary data, cover all tracks and maintain cover at all times...'
(Excerpts from a taped message sent to the children by Sylvestris)
The day draws comparisons between a healthy forest and a healthy human life. Both need a good supply of food, shelter, clean water, air, and family and friends (the latter two translate into biodiversity and regeneration for the forest).
Then, off we set looking for our clues. If lily pads are growing on a loch does it suggest that the water is clean, or would we see fish in polluted rivers? Are there signs of mini-beasts helping the forest to recycle, making food by making soil, or pollinating flowers? Are there young trees replacing the old ones (showing us the importance of regeneration) and are there berries and plants for food or shelter?
 'Green Agents' from St. Josephs Primary showing evidence of a forest recycler/decomposer. Photo by Jennie Martin. |
We collect samples of these things, where appropriate, and then tie them on to a journey stick to give to Sylvestris as our report. (A journey stick is a branch with wool tied around it, upon which we map out our journey by means of tying on evidence, such as a pine cone, water sample, or grass rubbing of pine boring beetle grooves on a fallen log).
It was wonderful to see the children really getting into the theme of the day, as well as watching their excitement over finding an animal track or a browsed twig and working out what animal may have made it.
It became clear early on that this is a flexible programme that can provide a fun and totally interactive way to learn about how special our native forests are.
Huge thanks to Scottish Natural Heritage, the Dishma Trust and The Blair Foundation for their financial support for this work. To Thomas Schoor-kon, of Trackways, for a very inspiring Primitive Survival training course. And lastly, but by no means least, to Tim Dafforn for a great two weeks in training and development. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm and knowledge of environmental education, for the story telling, owl-gifted night walks and pine needle tea ... a big thank you! I look forward to us working together again in the future.
Quotes from teachers and children:
'...they could see a lot of the things they had been learning about working for 'real' within the environment of Glen Affric.'
Mrs Gillian Maclennan
'Hands on experience like this is an extremely valuable contribution towards childrens' experiences of nature...'
Sheena J. Norquay
Class teacher Pr 4/5 Cradlehall Primary Inverness
'... every step I took, it took me into a more dreamy land...'
Wild Cat (Rhea) Central Primary, Inverness
'The food web was cool how we started with an Earthworm and ended with me, Human.'
Human (Christopher), Age 8, Cradlehall Primary, Inverness
'Making the Silver Birch trees sing was magnificent, with all the strange noises coming from each tree.'
Wild Cat (Sam), Age 8, Cradlehall Primary, Inverness
Jennie Martin
The Changing Seasons at Plodda Lodge
It feels like a huge amount has happened since Neil and I came to live at Plodda Lodge at the end of February this year...
We arrived one evening as it was getting dark and the snow was falling fast. The next morning there was a blue sky, bright sunshine and a blanket of snow everywhere, so we had a beautiful, if somewhat cold, start to our time at Plodda!
 Scotch argus butterfly |
We first spent a week at the Findhorn Foundation, getting to know the staff based at the Trees for Life office, and discovering Findhorn. Then, Clare Cummings came back to Plodda with us and helped us get started with work on the nursery, showing us what she had been doing last year and generally pointing us in the right direction, which was a great help. We began spring-cleaning Plodda after the winter months and then participated in the week-long Focaliser training programme, which was great fun, and we learnt an enormous amount about Trees for Life's work during that week.
Then the Conservation Holidays began! Some volunteers came to stay at Plodda, others came for a day at a time and dug up all the hazel, willow and alder seedlings which had been growing in the nursery when we arrived, ready for planting out in Glen Affric. The aspen trees propagated last year in the nursery were also taken and planted out in Glen Affric, Glen Moriston or in the RSPB reserve at Corrimony. With the help of all the volunteers, nursery beds were dug over and prepared for planting, new leaf mould cages were built and beech leaves were collected to make leaf mould, which will be used to enrich the nursery soil in the future.
Also in spring, plant labels were cleaned for reuse, new boxes were made for the aspen roots and a new shade cover was created for the misting unit in the polytunnel. Shelves were put up in the shed to organise the storage of Conservation Holiday equipment, a coal bunker was built for Plodda Lodge, the cold frames for young aspen trees were renovated and many willow cuttings were planted. we experimented with planting some of the willow cuttings through a surface 'mulch' or layer of cardboard - this has proved very successful at keeping the weeds down, and has substantially reduced the time needed to weed these cuttings. The cardboard will continue to rot down over winter, so that the rooted cuttings should be easily dug out of their beds next spring, ready for planting out in Glen Affric.
Summer at Plodda was quite quiet and peaceful, and, when it wasn't raining, there were huge dragonflies and Scotch argus butterflies about, as well as slow worms to look out for on the compost heaps! Most of my time was spent potting all the rooted aspen cuttings.
Autumn brought lots of volunteers to stay at Plodda, although unfortunately one of the Conservation Holidays had to be moved to alternative accommodation in Cannich, so that the Lodge's two chimneys could be relined: they had been condemned as unsafe for use, and one was completely blocked. What a relief that the work has been done - we can now use both wood-burning stoves again, in the common room and in the bunk room. One of Neil's biggest tasks has been filling the wood store, so that we have enough firewood to keep Plodda warm. With the help of many volunteers, we have been able to collect a large stack of logs, felled by Forest Enterprise, and these will go a long way to filling the wood store when they are all sawn and chopped.
Also, many thanks to all the volunteers who helped in the nursery this autumn, which has meant that, amongst many other things, the perimeter fence has been secured and empty nursery beds have been cleared and dug over. They were then either mulched with cardboard or sown with green manure seeds, to provide cover over the winter months. A new bed has been dug out, so that we can establish a patch of comfrey in the nursery next spring, holly and juniper cuttings have been planted and acorns collected in Grudie oakwood have been sown - extra deep, to help protect them from hungry mice over the winter!
Compost bins have been repaired and improved, and a new cold frame has been built, using old windows, which will help protect the holly and juniper cuttings from rain and frost through the winter. Alder and birch seed has been collected this autumn, and also bird cherry, juniper and holly berries, which will be stored outside for either one or two winters, to break their inbuilt dormancy, before the seed is sown. Sadly, the pretty wildlife pond area outside the nursery gate became very overgrown this year, so throughout the autumn, volunteers have been battling against the couch grass and mulching the trees, and renovations in this area are now well under way.
Neil and I have very much enjoyed our first season at Plodda: it is a beautiful place to live and has been extremely interesting, both learning about the work and meeting all the people who have come and helped - many thanks to you all, and we hope to see you again in the future.
Aspen propagation
Jill potting aspen in the greenhouse at Plodda Lodge tree nursery. Photo by Neil Armstrong. |
Aspen trees are propagated in the nursery from root cuttings, and this year root sections, collected by Trees for Life staff and volunteers, started to arrive at the nursery at the beginning of April. Roots were collected over the next couple of months from Glen Moriston and Glen Affric. These were all planted in the nursery's polytunnel and any suckers or shoots that they sent up were rooted individually in the misting unit. The roots carried on sending up suckers until autumn, and this year we have taken over 2,500 cuttings! I'm really pleased with the success rate which is quite high, despite a problem with a black rot affecting the stems of new cuttings during a cool, wet period in the summer. We won't know the final figures until I write up all my nursery notes during the dark days of winter to come!
We have been experimenting with using different composts for the aspen cuttings this season, trying out a peat-free compost which, if successful, will be much more environmentally friendly than using peat-based composts. We have also tried out 'Rootrainers', a system of trays specifically designed for trees to produce lots of straight roots, which give the tree a much better start when it is planted out of its container. Tree roots often go round and round in the bottom of the traditional pots, and this can hinder the future growth of the trees. We will be checking to see if these changes have affected the propagation success rate or not, before deciding on methods for next year.
Jill Hodge
See Caledonia Wild! magazines, for excerpts from other editions.
Published: 22 January 2003
Last updated: 08 October 2010