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UPM Tilhill Foresters go back to School

Forest Managers from UPM Tilhill’s North Highland District went back to school last week to help a group of Inverness pupils realise their dream of creating their own ‘woodland classroom.’

As part of its UK-wide Community Action Days initiative, the foresters spent Saturday 24th November at Muirtown Primary School, where pupils and teachers have been hard at work to develop their own wooded, outdoor space where children and the local community can learn, exercise and relax.

The project began last year when the school was invited to become involved with a 2.5 hectare area of land in the Craig Dunain Community Woodland. Since then, and following huge fundraising efforts, two hundred and fifty broadleaf trees have been purchased and planted with each tree adopted by a pupil and displaying a small plaque to show who is caring for it.

“Our Foresters were all were delighted to step forward and lend a hand to support such a worthwhile local project,” John McGlade, District Manager. “The value of woodlands both as an educational resource and in simply being a tranquil place to rest and relax cannot be overestimated and I hope all the pupils will get great pleasure from helping the woodland grow and flourish.”

On the day, the foresters were joined by Robert Bowie, Parents Council Woodland Coordinator; Fiona Neilson, Head Teacher; Jill Knowles, teacher; school pupils; parents and community volunteers for an early start to replace old and inadequate tree shelters with new, larger ones which will help combat deer browsing. Despite the cold and wet, everyone got stuck in to ensure that each individual tree received its guards - purchased via the company’s Community Action Day funds. Work then continued to complete the removal of gorse before the area was planted with a grass and wildflower seed mixture. The work should ensure that the site can face the challenges of the winter months, and that conservation and amenity values will be improved come next spring.

UPM Tilhill\'s involvement with the project is set to continue, with the provision of GIS mapping resources to produce some simple maps to assist the school in future planning and fund raising.

Press for further information contact:
Ruth Roy
01892 861008/07771 940494
ruth.roy@upm-kymmene.com

UPM Tilhill Marketing. November 2007