INVERNESS-SHIRE AND MORAY RESIDENTS OFFERED FREE GREEN DAYS OUT

Conservation charity Trees for Life is offering people in Moray and Inverness-shire the chance to help restore the Caledonian Forest, learn new skills and enjoy time in the wild Highlands through a new scheme of volunteer day trips called Green Days Out.

The charity is running 47 free Green Days Out this year, allowing volunteers to take part in practical conservation and forest restoration work in several glens to the west of Inverness.

Locations include Glen Affric, home to one of the largest and least disturbed remnants of the Caledonian Forest, and Glen Moriston, where Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Estate is located.

Activities include tree planting and protection, some small scale felling of non-native trees, and nursery work. Volunteers do not need to have previous experience as Trees for Life provides full training and support, as well as minibus transport, equipment and tools.

Green Days Out will run most Wednesdays and on some weekends, to allow the widest range of people the chance to join in.

Alan Watson Featherstone, Executive Director of Trees for Life, said:
“Green Days Out is an exciting new initiative to help local people to become more involved in the restoration of the ancient and remarkable Caledonian Forest. It’s a great way to mark both the European Year of Volunteering and the United Nations’ International Year of Forests.

“It will allow local people to learn more about threatened habitats and species on their doorstep, to take practical action to conserve their local natural environment, and to benefit from spending time in 'green places', taking part in activities that are good for mental and physical health.”

Trees for Life wants the new scheme to attract volunteers from diverse backgrounds, including older people and those who are unemployed or on low incomes, who would otherwise have limited opportunities to take part in such activities.

The scheme is being made possible through funding of almost £10,000 from the Big Lottery Fund. This generous support has allowed Trees for Life to fund a new part-time post for a staff member to run the project.

Scottish Natural Heritage is also providing assistance to other aspects of Trees for Life’s volunteer programme, through grant aid towards the charity’s Conservation Holiday Weeks scheme. Almost 50 such weeks will be run this year, allowing people from all backgrounds and ages to help restore Scotland’s natural heritage at outstanding locations in the Highlands.

Green Days Out is one of several new or expanded initiatives being launched by Trees for Life this year. Others include an expansion of native woodland on the charity’s Dundreggan Estate, which will help to attract red squirrels, and a commitment to planting 100,000 trees.

For information about Green Days Out, contact Rosie Black on 0845 458 3505 or at rosie@treesforlife.org.uk. An information evening about the scheme will be held on Tuesday 22 March 2011 from 7.00pm-8.30pm at the Volunteering Highland Centre, 1A Millburn Road, Inverness.

For details about Trees for Life’s work visit see www.treesforlife.org.uk.

/ Ends

Notes to editors
1. Trees for Life aims to restore the Caledonian Forest to an area of
1,500 square kilometres in the Scottish Highlands west of Inverness.
2. Since planting its first trees in 1991 in Glen Affric, Trees for Life
has planted over 924,000 trees. Its awards include 1991 UK Conservation Project of the Year, the Millennium Marque in 2000 and Top 10 Conservation Holidays worldwide in 2009.
3. For information on the International Year of Forests see
www.un.org/en/events/iyof2011.
4. For more information on the Big Lottery Fund see
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
5. For more information on the European Year of Volunteering see
http://europa.eu/volunteering.

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