Scotland’s first ‘Platinum Jubilee Woods’ are in Peebles and Speyside
THE first new 70-acre woodlands commemorating the life of the late HM Queen Elizabeth, have been created at Traquair, in the Borders, and at Glen Kyllachy, on Speyside.
Landowners will now have until the end of March, 2023, to come forward and create further 70-acre woods as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy – a unique tree-planting initiative which invited people across the UK to ‘Plant a tree for the Jubilee’, and many have taken up this opportunity, most notably the two large initiatives.
Those committing to and planting Platinum Jubilee Woods will be registered on the online Queen’s Green Canopy map and landowners can mark the site with a special QGC plaque. New plantings may also be eligible for the Woodland Trust’s woodland carbon scheme and associated financial support.
The Queen’s Green Canopy was due to conclude at the end of Platinum Jubilee year in 2022, but following The Queen’s death in September, and with the blessing of HM King Charles, the scheme will continue until the end of the tree-planting season.
Organised by the Woodland Trust, its largescale planting scheme was created to help landowners mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years of service and new woods will now also serve to commemorate her life.
Woodland Trust Scotland director, Alastair Seaman, said: “We are delighted to announce the first Platinum Woods, as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy in Scotland are at Glen Kyllachy, on Speyside, and at Traquair, in the Borders. We would like to hear from other landowners who may wish to take part in this initiative creating a legacy in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth.”
Catherine Maxwell Stuart, 21st Lady of Traquair – and owner of reputedly one of the oldest houses in Scotland – said: “We are delighted to have our new woodland included as a Platinum Wood which we hope will raise awareness of the legacy of tree planting at Traquair in the years to come.
“It is critical that we continue to plant for the future to safeguard our environment and the long term sustainability of our heritage at Traquair. The woodland is being named after my daughter, Isabella, a keen environmentalist and the next generation of those who will be in charge of nurturing and protecting the woodland in the future,” she added.
The 70-acre Platinum Woods are the largest in the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, which has also supplied free saplings to schools and community groups through the Woodland Trust’s Free Trees for Schools and Communities scheme.