The Forest of Hope
The Forest of Hope is a groundbreaking Scottish project to plant a new forest, organised as part of the COP26 climate talks.
The first legacy woodland to celebrate a United Nations climate summit is being created on Highlands Rewilding's Beldorney estate, marking Scotland’s role in hosting COP26. Spanning the border between Aberdeenshire and Moray, we hope the initiative will become a “greenprint” for future climate conferences.
The Forest of Hope is a carbon-negative, biodiversity-positive afforestation project, with initial planting of 18.96 hectares. The planted area will extend from the ancient, semi-natural broadleaf woodland that sits in the north-east corner of the Beldorney estate, on a southeast facing slope along the River Deveron, running alongside species-rich grassland that we are working to restore.
Woodland Carbon Code calculations estimate that this area will sequester approximately 11,280 tCOe over
the next 100 years. We are planting a mix of young native broadleaves sourced from local tree nurseries, suitable for the local climate, elevation and soil. The tree mix includes birch, sessile oak, hazel, alder, rowan, goat willow, and hawthorn.
In late April 2022, we planted 1,400 tea-leaved willows and in late October 2022, we planted 10,000 more trees including alder, hazel, aspen, oak and willow. All the young trees came from the Dundreggan Trees for
Life nursery and a further 20,000 trees are being planted during spring 2023.
The planting of the Forest of Hope has given us the opportunity to establish some experimental plots, in collaboration with the University of Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery. A total of 17 40m x 40m
plots of planted trees are being compared to neighbouring unplanted areas (34 plots in all). These plots will be monitored and measurements of soil carbon taken, to assess the difference between planting and natural regeneration in an afforestation site.
Highlands Rewilding prioritises natural regeneration to restore and expand native woodlands where possible, and we also try to avoid the use of plastic tree guards and energy-intensive planting methods - although we have had to use some guards here to protect against damage from the voles that are very common in Beldorney.
The aim is for the forest to include several different species of native broadleaf trees on Beldorney alone, with potential for future expansion. The Beldorney estate already hosts a 1km stretch of established native woodland along the River Deveron, which offers a glimpse of what the Forest of Hope will look like. Natural regeneration is being prioritised within and around this woodland.
Map of Phase 1 of the Forest of Hope
The Forest of Hope concept originates from Climate Action, the company behind the Climate Action Innovation Zone and the Sustainable Innovation Forum at COP26. Nick Henry, chief executive of Climate Action and organiser of the COP26 Climate Action Innovation Zone, heard about Highlands Rewilding and suggested the forest be created at Beldorney.
Speaking about the project, Nick Henry said:
“I believe that nature is the most important partner to work with in tackling the climate emergency. That’s why it is our mission to support nature-based solutions such as rewilding, both in the UK and internationally. From the greening of gardens, parks and cities right through to the large-scale rewilding of landscapes, a growing number of people, businesses and institutions are now realising that ecosystem restoration and regeneration is vital to the long-term health of our planet. I am delighted to see our idea to create the COP26 Forest of Hope becoming a reality.”
The project is being carried out in a collaboration between Highlands Rewilding, Climate Action and Cabrach Trust, with support from conservation charities Trees for Life and the Woodland Trust.
Highlands Rewilding founder, Dr Jeremy Leggett, said:
“Our definition of rewilding is people-centric in large part because we cannot hope to stop climate meltdown and biodiversity collapse without the full fighting involvement of communities. Hence the mass-ownership model we are intent on for Highlands Rewilding, Beldorney and the first Forest of Hope. You can well imagine how thrilled we are that neighbours and expert organisations have so quickly lined up to collaborate, and we hope there will be much more to come.”
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Tree planting at the Forest of Hope, April 2023
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Rewilding in Action
Woodland creation, peatland restoration and maintenance of pastures. We will manage the land with biodiversity and carbon sequestration increase as our core aim, alongside repeopling the Highlands.
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Natural Capital
We will implement the most innovative research and technologies to create Nature-based Solutions that work for nature, as well as monetisation for land management.
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Community Prosperity
We are helping tackle the inequality of land ownership, as well as employing a number of local people to implement our targets for rewilding the Highlands, providing rural green new jobs to communities.