Aspen at the Double Appeal

We aim to establish many more stands of aspen trees in our Target Area, providing the habitat for a range of rare insects, mosses, lichens and fungi that are dependent on the tree. Please make a donation to support this ambitious expansion of our Aspen Project.

Vanessa Collingridge planting an aspen tree for us in May, as one of the 100,000 trees we planted in 2007. "Aspen is a really special and important tree, and we need a lot more of it in the Highlands again. Please make a donation to support this exciting project – your gift now will make it a real Christmas for the trees of Scotland too!" Vanessa Collingridge Writer, TV & radio broadcaster

Dear Supporter

As 2007 draws near its end, I'm writing to thank you for helping to make it our most successful year ever. We achieved our commitment of planting 100,000 trees for the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign (by planting just over 104,000 trees altogether), we ran more volunteer Work Weeks than any previous year and we've taken on 3 new staff to help handle all the growth of our project. Together, we've made a real difference for the Caledonian Forest, and for the planet!

We've also laid the foundations for the continued growth of our work in the years ahead, both at Dundreggan and sites such as Glen Affric, and with specific projects for woodland ground flora and aspen trees. Our Aspen Project in particular is poised for a substantial expansion, and to help us achieve this, I'm writing today to ask for your help is raising £18,500 for its next phase. Aspen trees provide the habitat for a number of rare species of insects, mosses and lichens, as well as being a favoured winter food for the European beaver (which is likely to be reintroduced to Scotland in the next 18 months), so there's a tremendous opportunity to benefit all of these species.

Aspen at the Double! We plan to double the scope & extent of our Aspen Project!

For the past 16 years, we've been developing and refining the technique of propagating aspens from root cuttings, as the species seldom produces seeds. Our nursery now grows about 3,000 plants a year, and we're aiming to double this capacity over the next 3 years. This will provide the stock of young trees we need to establish significant new aspen stands at Dundreggan, in Glen Affric and at other sites. It will also enable us to link up existing stands so that they form the larger contiguous areas of aspen woodland that are essential for some of the rare aspen-dependent insects.

Trees for Life is in the forefront of restoration work for aspen in the Highlands, and we're well-placed to act on the increased conservation concern about the species. Aspen has long been one of my favourite trees, so please join me in working for its future, by sending a donation so we can put our ambitious plans into practice.

Aspens and Scots pine in autumn - we aim to establish many more stands like this in our Target Area.

Aspen abundance! Here's how we plan to expand our Aspen Project:

• An important part of our plans for Dundreggan is to establish a substantial stand of aspen trees there. This will create a link with other aspen stands in Glen Moriston, and will provide adequate habitat for rare aspen-dependent species such as the aspen hoverfly. Initially we‘ll be planting 5,000 aspens, and we also need deer fencing to protect them.
• In Glen Affric we have agreement with Forestry Commission Scotland to establish new aspen stands around Loch Affric, continuing work we've already done around Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin. We aim to plant up to 2,000 trees at suitable sites around the loch, and many of these will need appropriate protection.
• At the Scatwell Estate, in the northeast of our Target Area, we have agreement to expand the large aspen stand there. The work will include protection of overgrazed aspen suckers and planting up to 2,000 new aspens to link the stand to other ones nearby.
• Other work in this next phase of our aspen project includes surveying more aspen stands in our Target Area (we've already mapped over 360), maintenance and renewal of existing protection measures at some stands, commissioning specialist biological surveys at key sites and a doubling of the annual production of aspens at our nursery in the next three years.
• To achieve all of this, and grow our Aspen Project into its next phase, we need to raise a total of £18,500 - please help us reach this target by sending a donation today!

Trembling for your touch – aspen will thrive again in the Highlands with your help!

Aspen leaves tremble or flutter in the slightest breeze. Your touch now, by putting pen to paper to send a donation to our Aspen at the Double Appeal, will set many thousands of aspens a-tremble! With your support, we'll ensure that new aspen woodlands, and their associated wildlife, thrive again in greater abundance in the Highlands.

To make a donation online to this project, please use the button below, and thank you in advance for any contribution that you can give - your donation will touch the trees, and our hearts, this Christmas!

Yours sincerely,

Alan Watson Featherstone
Executive Director

PS. Like these aspen flowers in the photograph on the left, our Aspen Project is ready to blossom and grow, so please act today – your support will make all the difference!