Short - Term
Project: Housing Estate Oasis
Love them or hate them, housing estates aren't going away and the more that spring up, the more habitat is lost for Scotland's wildlife.
'HEO' aims to network with housing estate developers and offer free planting of native trees and plants in the otherwise barren gardens that the new-build houses come with.
Planting will only take place if the individual home buyers express interest and will not only help the local animals, but will create a nicer environment for people to live in.
Project: Green Sanctuary
'GS' aims to connect with landowners across Scotland who are interested in turning part of their land into a sanctuary for wildlife.
1 - 2 acre mini nature reserves will be planted with a range of beneficial native species and in some cases with the inclusion of a small nature pond (ponds are well known for their amazing benefits to nature).
Project: Reinforcement
There are already some incredible people across Scotland doing some amazing planting projects.
Project Reinforcement, aims to support those projects, by providing extra trees and volunteers to plant them.
Project: Recycle
One of the biggest problems with planting trees in Scotland is protecting them.
As wolves, bears and lynx all became extinct as a result of hunting, the deer population exploded to very unnatural levels.
That means that any trees planted without protection will be chewed down by deer and will not survive.
Tree protection on the market is nearly all made from plastic and it's also very expensive.
I'm having a look at removing plastic bottles from beaches and recycling them into tree protection.
It will cut costs and help our struggling oceans at the same time.
For now the project is just a concept, but I will construct the first prototypes before the 2020 tree planting season (October - February).
Vision
Long - Term: Dream Big!
Project: Survival island
Some animal species in Scotland like the Scottish Wildcat, Capercaillie, honey bee and red squirrel are at real risk of extinction.
There are 15 species of endangered native trees in the UK including the Ley's Whitebeam of which only 17 remain in the wild.
Survival Island is the concept of turning one of Scotland's barren islands back into a large native forest reserve.
Where endangered wildlife can thrive and recover away from the persecution of humans.
The sea will act as a barrier, making it less likely that disease outbreaks on the mainland will have any effect.
Survival Island is for now just a fantasy project, as it requires a large amount of funding.
Project: Green Belt
'GB' is a vision to create a belt of forest across lowland Scotland in which it would be possible to walk continuously from the West to the East coast through forest without break.
It would involve the planting of millions of trees and the construction of 'forest bridges' over roads (a place where forest wildlife can safely cross)
Scotland doesn't really have any large uninterrupted areas of forest, which is an essential habitat for species like Lynx (which became extinct in Scotland due to habitat loss and hunting).
Needless to say, 'GB' will for now remain a vision.
Project: Lothians Nature Reserve
'LNR' is a project to plant one 250 acre forest nature reserve within 45 minutes drive of Edinburgh.
The reserve will be made up of all native plant species that exist naturally in the area and will include several wildlife ponds.
It will be an interactive place where the people in the area can enjoy nature, complete with an education centre/cafe.
The education centre will teach people about the native animals and plants and will also include foraging courses.
The cafe will have a menu made from as many wild native ingredients from the forest as possible.
