"This has been an excellent experience – a great chance to get outdoors, to meet new and interesting people and to enjoy good food." Jacob, Southampton.

Locations

 

Each Work Week is based in a particular area, with the week’s tasks at different sites in the locality. The accommodation will usually be a short drive of around half an hour from the sites, but may be longer due to the remoteness of some work locations.

Glen Affric

Glen Affric, owned and managed by Forestry Commission Scotland, is often described as one of the most beautiful glens in Scotland. This National Nature Reserve contains one of the largest remaining fragments of Caledonian Forest.

Volunteers participating on the Corrimony, Glen Cannich/Cougie and Nursery Work Weeks will visit this area for an introductory walk and may have a chance to explore it more freely on their day off.

West Affric

Owned by the National Trust for Scotland, this land lies high in the heart of the mountains. Work carried out here is bringing the forest back to areas that have been barren for a long time. Volunteers on these weeks will be planting and fertilising trees, with the possibility of ecological survey work. Some long walks over uneven ground will be required to reach the work sites so a good level of fitness is required. Accommodation will be at the Allt Beithe Youth Hostel, the most remote hostel in Britain.

Glen Cannich and Cougie

Owned by the Forestry Commission, these work sites are nestled alongside Glen Affric and are part of the NNR. Volunteers will be planting trees, removing redundant fences and felling non-native trees, which will help the Caledonian Forest extend north and southwest. In the autumn volunteers will get a chance to get involved with nursery work at Plodda. These areas, although lesser known, have plenty of stunning views and some beautiful remnants of forest with ancient ‘granny’ pines. Accommodation will be at the Glen Affric Chalet Park in Cannich for the spring weeks and at Plodda Lodge for the autumn weeks.

Glen Moriston

Glen Moriston, the southern boundary of the Trees For Life target area, has a band of mixed woodland winding its way along the course of the beatiful River Moriston, with patches of native woodland and plantations on the hillsides. The work will be in Forestry Commission Scotland's Inverwick Forest and on nearby estates. The forest is important for black grouse, a rare and declining species, and improving the habitat is a focus for our work. We will be planting trees, removing redundant deer fencing and felling non-native trees to benefit the grouse. For those who are keen and willing there should be an opportunity on each week to watch the black grouse on their lek. Accommodation for these weeks is at the Invermoriston Holiday chalets.

Dundreggan

This year we will also be working on the 10,000 acre Dundreggan Estate in Glen Moriston, which we are in the process of buying. Work will include fence removal, seed collection, survey work and more. We may be working on the estate in spring and autumn during the Glen Moriston Work Weeks, and the dates for dedicated Dundreggan Work Weeks in the autumn will be added in due course.

Corrimony

At Corrimony, above Strathglass, we are helping the RSPB restore Caledonian Forest to an area of moorland and former conifer plantation. The reserve offers the chance to see many rare birds, such as black grouse, golden eagle and merlin. There's also a spectacular wooded gorge, complete with a beautiful waterfall. We will be planting trees on the reserve, getting involved in wetland restoration as well as felling non-native trees. Accommodation will be at Plodda Lodge.

Achnahinich

This exciting new work site, situated on the western edge of our target area, overlooks Loch Achaidh na h-Inich, near Plockton and the Isle of Skye. Here we will be planting 10,000 mixed native trees on a south-facing slope, which will help re-establish the native woodland. We will also be removing redundant fencing. The scenery in this area is stunning, with great walks on the doorstep, which volunteers are free to explore on their day off. Accommodation is at Attadale holiday cottages, Strath Carron.

Achnashellach

Located in upper Glen Carron, Achnashellach is on the northern boundary of Trees for Life’s target area. Much of this site is Caledonian Pine Forest, under-planted with non-native plantations. We’ve been assisting the Forestry Commission by removing these non-native trees, restoring a wetland area and carrying out some survey work. The work on this week will include tree planting and non-native removal. Accommodation will be at the Plockton Bunkhouse.

Skye

We will be working on Forestry Commission Scotland's Kinloch Hills Native Woodland Restoration Project. This 7,400 hectare site is on the eastern side of this beautiful island. FCS is working to restore native woodland, heath and bog. Our tasks will include non-native tree removal, ecological survey work, and fence removal. Some of the work sites are remote and may require a long walk over rough terrain, so a good level of fitness is necessary. The accommodation for these weeks will be at the Flora MacDonald hostel, near Armadale.

The Tree Nursery Weeks – a more gentle option at Plodda

This year we are running three Nursery weeks. Two of these (April 12th and May 24th) are for those who would like to make their own practical contribution to the restoration of the Caledonian Forest, but who may not be able to keep up with the pace of the other work weeks. Work on these weeks will be based around Trees for Life's nursery at Plodda Lodge. The work will include collecting, planting and transplanting native tree cuttings, preparation of seed beds and sowing seed, as well as work on our aspen propagation project. The first nursery week (March 1st) will also include heavier work for those who are able, including helping to extend the nursery and erect a new polytunnel. Accommodation will be at Plodda Lodge and Cannich Backpackers.

 

"I have had an amazing time, great people, great scenery - very rewarding and enjoyable." Rachel, Glasgow.

 

If you would like to promote our Volunteer Work Weeks in your local area, please download a poster (PDF, 831 kB) about them, which you can then print out from your own computer and display at suitable locations.

You can also download our Work Week Brochure 2009 (PDF, 1 mb) and Work Week Booking Form, if you would like to pass on information about our programmes to friends, family or colleagues.