Planting trees - by helicopter!
A helicopter has been used to lay out quarter of a million trees for planting on a remote site managed by Scottish Woodlands Ltd on the Isle of Mull.
The Scottish Woodlands team based in Lochgilphead, Argyll, worked with Skyhook Helicopters and Scottish Tree Planting to get almost 250,000 young broadleaved trees into place last week.
Eddie Addis, General Manager (Management and Services) for Scottish Woodlands Ltd, said: “On remote and challenging sites like this, there are safety risks with trying to lay out such a large number of trees using traditional methods. It also requires a lot of resources and construction of built infrastructure, such as high specification ATV tracks and watercourse crossings.”
“The high costs of the hire of a helicopter are offset by many other factors: far less risk to operators; a reduced need for labour; the large savings on infrastructure costs; and the reduced environmental impact of not having to build infrastructure in what will be a carbon-eating new native woodland!”
Eoghan Anderson, Senior Forest Manager with Scottish Woodlands Ltd, added: “Despite the high operating costs for a helicopter, this system of layout can often be better than traditional methods - as long as you work with the best contractors.”
“That’s what we did with Skyhook Helicopters and Scottish Tree Planting. Working with high-quality, trusted partners is essential for the delivery of such large, complex and challenging projects, especially if the weather is against you, which is often the case in Argyll! The results on this one speak for themselves, thanks to all involved!”
Mr Anderson said the quarter of a million trees laid out by helicopter was a small percentage of what was being planted on “a very large and complex new woodland creation site”.
Over one million trees are being planted on site - of a range of species, predominately native broadleaved species however a small proportion of commercial species such as Sitka Spruce are being planted too – close to Salen on the Isle of Mull.
