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To receive the complete copy of our newsletters, please Join Trees for Life as a Member - with your support we will also be more effective in our work to restore the Caledonian Forest. A Glimpse of a Hidden World
At the end of July I had a rare opportunity to visit one of the least-known parts of the Caledonian Forest - the canopy of mature Scots pine trees. This came about when we were contacted by Richard Preston, an American writer who is also qualified in the tree-climbing techniques needed for access to forest canopies. Having recently made a number of ascents into the canopy of redwood trees in California for a magazine article he was writing, Richard came to Scotland on holiday and got in touch with us to investigate the possibility of climbing in the Caledonian Forest. I was able to join him for a couple of days, during which I donned a hard hat, climbing harness and carabiners to climb up ropes, using special ascenders. This is a simple technique, but I found it surprisingly strenuous until I established a good rhythm of moving first my arms, and then my legs, up the rope. My rate of ascent was slow, but that gave me the opportunity to appreciate the remarkable shape of the tree I was climbing. This was a large pine in a clearing, and it had taken advantage of the open space to grow in a spreading shape, with many large branches extending out from its crown. As I climbed through the gaps between those branches, I marvelled at how the tree had filled the space available to it with its beautiful, living architecture, and the graceful presence of this venerable pine inspired us to nickname it the 'Gentle Giant'. Once I was up in the canopy, I was astounded to discover a total of 9 young rowans growing on the tree, in the forks where the large branches joined the main trunk. Whilst it's not unusual to see a single rowan growing on a pine, finding this many was unprecedented, and although most were just seedlings, a couple of them were 2 metres in height. Those young trees, and the lichens growing on the upper branches, provided a tantalising glimpse of how much life there is in the forest canopy. This is most abundant in the form of the invertebrate organisms which live there. A recent research project in the canopy of Scots pine forests in southern Norway, for example, resulted in the documentation of over 500 species of arthropod (insects and other invertebrates such as spiders etc.), including 9 species which were new to science. No comparable studies have been done in the Caledonian Forest, but it is possible there are unknown species waiting to be discovered here as well, and we hope to organise some research into this in the near future. I stayed up in the Gentle Giant for a couple of hours, and as I sat there suspended tranquilly amongst the upper branches, the tree's unique attributes, including its shape, the life it supported, its view over the landscape and its centuries-long presence there all touched me, and gave me a palpable sense of attunement to this special being. Afterwards, I descended to the ground with a feeling of elation, not only because I had received a glimpse of the forest canopy, but also because I had gained a deeper insight into what life for a tree is really like. Alan Watson Featherstone To read more about climbing in the Caledonian Forest, please see 'Tree Climbing in Scotland' by Richard Preston's daughter, Laura, on page 3 of Tree Climbing Online (PDF, 892 kB). Autumn: Fruit-heavy Boughs, Gilded Leaves & Harbingers of Winter
Pondering the futurePotential, as ever, seems to be in no short supply and it is very exciting to be considering working in new areas on new projects. It sometimes feels a bit awe inspiring to look at the map of our target area for forest restoration on the wall of the field office and see great patches of land without trees; to see vast areas of non-native plantations, many of which will be returned, in time, to diverse natural woodland. The task seems discouragingly endless, but on the other hand I see just how much new woodland has been created by us and others over the years and then the spaces seem more like a rich source of potential instead. Not that I would want to see 'wall to wall' trees: the landscape should be a mosaic of habitats with areas of scrub, open ground supporting the internationally important bog communities of plants, insects and birds and montane heath at higher elevations. Nevertheless, there is plenty of scope to increase our areas of native woodland as part of this colourful and varied picture which would support a far greater diversity of life than our present situation. So, what may the future hold for Trees for Life? Well, next year will see our return to the National Trust for Scotland owned property, West Affric, to do a little more planting to boost numbers in the Camban exclosure, in Fionngleann. (See Paul Kendall's article in this issue of Caledonia Wild!) This was originally planted in 2000 and, as one would expect in such harsh conditions, some of the little trees did not make it. I also hope to see us planting next spring on the Achlain Estate in Glen Moriston where we have been negotiating with the Forestry Commission for a grant for this work to take place for almost a year. Achlain is in the extreme south east of our target area and, diagonally opposite, in the north west, things are also beginning to develop in the Loch Carron area. To date, we have only worked in one spot there - the Forestry Commission's Achnashellach Pine Wood Restoration Site - where we have also just about completed work on a flood plain woodland restoration project. (Fantastic regeneration of birch and alder there!) We have recently been discussing working on some of their other sites in the area at Strome and Balmacara and at an interesting local community project based at Fernaig, on the shores of Loch Carron itself. We have arranged two volunteer work weeks at Fernaig next autumn. to help with their woodland project and return some of the Forestry Commission plantations to native forest. I also remain hopeful that the owner of the Attadale Estate, also bordering Loch Carron, will look favourably on our suggestion for a woodland restoration project there. This would supplement similar work that has already taken place and consolidate the recovery of native woodland on the estate. Halfway back down the diagonal line from Loch Carron to Glen Moriston is another very interesting project at a gravel quarry near Beauly. Here the manager has been developing plans for an ambitious landscape restoration project to tidy up after the highly intrusive operations of gravel extraction. Pine plantation and mixed broadleaf woodland surround the quarry and will provide an abundant seed source for natural regeneration of some species. I surveyed the woodland during the summer and was pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of tree species and a number of pinewood ground flora species amongst the plantation. Planting will supplement species diversity, especially around the margins of two large ponds being constructed in the deepest parts of the quarry workings where willow and alder will form a wet woodland habitat. Such a scheme is a new and responsible development in quarrying in this part of the country and will provide a valuable asset to the local community who will be able to enjoy walking the footpaths to be created, reading about the different habitats on information boards and learning through facilities provided for school children. I am pleased that Trees for Life have been asked for input to these plans and hope that we will be able to help with the planting in future years. Meanwhile, back in Glen Affric, next spring should see the implementation of the fencing project at the Allt Coire an t'Sneachda (Snowy Corrie) stream in Glen Affric, which many of you generously donated to in our funding appeal last May. Forest Enterprise still have to send the plans for the 11 hectare exclosure to various statutory consulting bodies, including Highland Council and the Forestry Commission's own regulatory division (formerly known as the Forestry Authority), but they do not foresee any problems and we anticipate it moving ahead in the first part of 2005.
An AppreciationPaul Kendall and his wife Sally came to Trees for Life in October 1996 and worked with us on a voluntary basis for a year before being taken on to the payroll. Since then, there have been various working arrangements, the latest of which has seen them job sharing the Assistant Field Officer position in which most of their work has been co-ordinating the volunteer work weeks. Paul plans to leave us at the end of November and thereafter Sally will attempt to fill his shoes by working full time. Paul has been an invaluable member of our team and since he joined us our annual schedule of volunteer work weeks has expanded by over 50% from 21 to 32 weeks with all the associated logistics spiralling into a veritable juggling act. During those years, safety regulations and reporting procedures to funders have also become much more stringent and Paul has been a prime mover in the development of a far more professional approach to this work. His training and talent as a graphic designer have been put to good use too and he and Sally were responsible for the complete overhaul of our newsletter and the birth of Caledonia Wild! as we know and love it today. Everyone on the team is grateful to Paul for everything he has given to Trees for Life over the years and I would like to add my personal appreciation for the dedication and selfless service he has given. We all wish him well in his next steps and hope that he will find further fulfilment and happiness in his life. Good Luck, Paul, and thank you for all you have given to Trees for Life! Adam Powell Funding the Forest
Walking with Rainbows!Our 13th Sponsored Walk took place around Loch Affric on Sunday 3rd October. We were blessed by another lovely autumn day with sunshine and light showers, which were a pleasure to walk in. We had a good turnout of over fifty walkers plus two babies and a whippet called Beckie! Two walkers fell into burns but survived with smiles on their faces and will still pay us for the privilege! All returned safely. There were no sightings of faeries this year but Pat, who was doing teas and soup at the bothy, spotted a golden eagle over Loch Affric, and our walkers were treated to a total of five rainbows during the course of the day! An added bonus was provided by a little family of short-tailed voles who had made their home in the roots of an old granny pine near our Walk Registration point. They spent the day scurrying around for food and were so unafraid of our walkers that they even allowed us to gently stroke their backs during their foraging! We were indeed honoured! Our thanks to all who walked and helped to raise funds, to all who helped at the bothy and to those who provided lifts on the day. So far we have over £2,062 pledged and still more walkers to report in with the amounts they hope to raise. Many of you, who could not get on any of our organised Walks, kindly made donations to our appeal. To date we have received £615 in the post! Our sincere thanks to all of you for your generosity and support for the Caledonian Forest.
Christmas shopping - don't leave it too late!This is another timely reminder about Trees for Life merchandise, which makes ideal Christmas presents. These include our high quality prints of Joan Fairhurst's beautiful watercolours of the Caledonian Forest, Trees for Life T-shirts, Winter cards, Greetings cards and our "better than ever" 2005 Trees for Life calendars and diaries. The pictures in the calendars and diaries this time are really stunning. My favourite calendar shot is that for the month of June showing a spectacular rainbow over black spruces in the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary in Canada - and in the diary, week commencing 21st March shows how wonderfully clever a gecko can be when it comes to camouflage in the subtropical rainforests of Australia. To check these out you need to buy a calendar and diary! They make great presents for yourself or friends and family. Get your orders in now!
Our most popular item at this time of the year is the special Christmas version of our Plant a Tree for Life Certificate. Why not give the gift of a lifetime and have a tree planted for someone special this Christmas? To ensure that you get your Certificates posted in time we need to have your orders by 13th December. Orders are coming in as you read these words - don't you be the one who misses out! You still have the time to do it! Please call our office on 0845 458 3505 or visit our website at www.treesforlife.org.uk to order merchandise or have a dedicated tree planted. Our Wish List works!
The addition of a Wish List in the summer edition of Caledonia Wild! was certainly worthwhile - the Wish List is for equipment, materials, etc. needed for our work and which our supporters may have as surplus to requirements. It resulted in the latest Dell desktop computer being donated by Geoff and Lisa Sharp of McIntosh Homes! This will be used for our GIS and mapping work. Our thanks again go to Geoff and Lisa - we also appreciate Geoff's commitment to Trees for Life as a member of our Board of Directors. As a result of Geoff and Lisa's donation of the computer, we were also able to obtain a generous 60% discount from ESRI UK on the cost of the ArcView GIS mapping software to run on it. Also, Fay Blackburn kindly gave us a small digital camera and Mrs RM Thorne generously donated £100 towards a more sophisticated model that is required by our field staff. Matthew Moser sent us a wonderful donation of £250, which we're using to fund the balance required for the digital camera, and towards the cost of an office desk. So our Wish List now looks like this:
If you feel that you would like to help with any of these or can donate towards their purchase, please let me know. It would be much appreciated! Robert McAuley See Caledonia Wild! Newsletters, for excerpts from other editions.
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If you have found the information on this page and/or website useful please consider making a donation, for example to our current appeal and/or becoming a member of Trees for Life, to help us further our work of restoring the Caledonian Forest. You can join or make a donation on-line via our secure server if you like, or contact Trees for Life by post, phone or email at the address below. Published: 2 December 2004 | ||||||||||||||||
