A SHORTAGE of suitable seeds has sparked an appeal for funds to restore native forests across Scotland.

Trees for Life is asking the public to help raise £25,000 to help fully fund a new project to collect wild tree seeds.

“It is vital that we plant trees grown from seeds that have been collected as locally as possible,” said CEO Steve Micklewright.

“This ensures the trees are well suited for their local environment and the wide genetic diversity of natural forests are maintained, helping them stand a better chance of withstanding new diseases and the impacts of climate change.

“Public support could mean that a new generation of crab apple trees provide vital winter food for birds, hazel trees provide nuts for red squirrels to eat and our nursery has a good supply of seeds from different places ensuring we can plant the right trees in the right place to continue our work to restore the Caledonian forest.”

Building on work started by Woodland Trust Scotland, the charity plans to solve the current seed shortage by involving volunteers in collecting the ones needed to support forest restoration projects across Scotland.

The volunteers will have to be trained so they can identify trees and pick only healthy seeds, which can be successfully grown into young trees.

“Some of the volunteers will work in groups so they can collect in very remote areas, so we need to ensure this is done in a safe way too,” said Micklewright. “And we also want to be able to reimburse the volunteers’ expenses, especially their mileage.”

Once the seeds are collected by the volunteers they will be sent to Trees for Life for processing, then grown in tree nurseries – like the one at the new Dundreggan rewilding centre – for future planting.

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As a result of support from the People’s Postcode Lottery, Woodland Trust Scotland is providing £55,000 a year for the next three years but an extra £25,000 has to be raised to make sure the project can happen.

With the public’s help, we will be able to recruit, train and support the volunteers, cover their expenses, and be able to process the seed collected quickly so it can be sown to create the next generation of trees in the recovering wild forests of Scotland,” said Micklewright.

He added: “The project will also help support the efforts of our tree nursery at Dundreggan. We will be able to grow a wider variety of trees for us to plant across the Affric Highlands area in which we focus a lot of our work.”

Any surplus funds raised by the appeal will be used by Trees for Life to fund other activities which will help rewild the Scottish Highlands.