Scotland's finest woods awards

Forest Carbon project wins 2013 Scotland's Finest Woods Award

Forest Carbon is celebrating the success of a major landowner-client in the Scotland's Finest Woods Awards.

Dell Estate, near Fort Augustus, Loch Ness, was presented with the ‘Dulverton Flagon’ by Paul Wheelhouse MSP, the Scottish environment minister, at the Royal Highland Show on Friday 21st June, for its 322-hectare Ardochy new forest. The award cites the project's "successful integration of commercial forestry with native woodland creation and carbon sequestration".

The project comprises a mix of coniferous commercial woodland folded into new native Caledonian pinewood and native woodland established through natural regeneration, with a total of 431,000 trees planted. The design includes areas of open ground maintained for 'lekking', the spectacular courtship display of the rare black grouse.

Forest Carbon developed and brokered a deal under which the Green Insurance Company bought the rights to carbon reduction credits over the trees' growing lifetime. This enabled the estate owners to bridge a funding gap between the woodland establishment costs and the Forestry Commission grant. Forest Carbon also undertook the carbon calculations and subsequent validation of the project under the UK Woodland Carbon Code.

Jeremy Finnis and Diana Cole, the owners of Dell Estate, said:

We are delighted to be awarded the Dulverton Flagon. Ardochy Forest is the realisation of a long-held ambition to establish from scratch a large mixed forest of predominantly native trees, and the help that we received under the Rural Priorities grant scheme, and from Forest Carbon with Green Insurance Company funding, was crucial in bringing the project to fruition

Forest Carbon Ltd was set up in 2006 to develop projects between organisations seeking to reduce net carbon emissions and landowners seeking to invest in new woodland, but lacking sufficient capital. Clients include The Green Insurance Company, BWOC, Kwik Fit, M&S, Stagecoach, Mears Group, Valassis, Sofa.com, Clairglow and Hallmark Cards.