This week is National Tree Week. Established by the Tree Council, National Tree Week marks the beginning of the annual tree planting season across the UK. Trees are an important asset for our future as they improve our environment, health and wellbeing. Throughout the week there are a number of projects taking place across the country to encourage an appreciation for trees. There are also a number of planting events for those who want to get involved.

At Forestry and Land Scotland we work year round to conserve and restore our forests. We aim to increase biodiversity, support tourism and improve access to green spaces across Scotland. To mark National Tree Week, here are some of our conservation stories from the past year.

Collecting cones from our Caledonian pinewoods

The Caledonian Forest is home to the iconic Scots pine tree. These pinewoods are under threat from a number of different pressures - such as tree disease, browsing pressure from deer and a changing climate. In order to preserve this native species our Tree Nursery and Seed Resource Manager Kenny Hay and a team of arborists have traversed the Caledonian Forest to collect seeds of Scotland’s national tree.

This seed collection acts as a safeguard to protect the genetic base of our forests. Cones can’t be collected from felled trees - so every tree needs to be climbed to collect the best seeds. This work produced 75 sacks of cones with the potential to yield 3 million seeds.

Learn more about this work here.

Saving Scotland’s wild apple trees

Wild apple trees are important for rare woodland pastures and wet woodlands. They are the parent species to domestic apples - which you will find in supermarkets. Apple trees hybridise easily which means wild apple species are becoming rarer and rarer.

Earlier this year we were approached by Dr Rick Worrell who had collected wild apple clones. We helped him find a home for these clones at Newton Nursery. This will provide a clone bank of wild apples that will be pollinated by bees. In future we can use this bank to plant wild apples across our forests and increase biodiversity.

Learn more here.

Preserving the ‘Last Ent of Affric’

Known as the Last Ent of Affric in homage to the tree-shepherds from the Lord of the Rings, an ancient elm tree has stood alone in Glen Affric for hundreds of years. This tree was awarded Tree of the Year in 2019. It now acts as a guardian over thirty-five young elm trees that have been transferred from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh to Glen Affric.

This is the first batch of 200 trees that are to be planted over the next two years. This work aims to protect the species from Dutch elm disease. The project involves cultivating disease resistant saplings and encouraging cross pollination. The mature wych elm at Affric has escaped the ravages of Dutch elm disease making it the perfect site to save the species.

Learn more here.

Get involved

There are a number of National Tree Week events happening in Scotland - including tree planting events and exhibition showcases. You can see what’s happening on the National Tree Week website.

• Rare species helping to restore native woodland
• How we can help solitary bees
• Aspen at Glenmore