Trees for life

The Naturesave Trust has been funding tree planting since 2009.  This began with a policy of planting a tree for every Naturesave home insurance customer who stayed with us for 10 years or more. In April 2019, the Trust decided to increase this contribution, by funding the planting of a tree for each and every new insurance policy issued by Naturesave Insurance.

The trees are planted in the Scottish Highlands by conservation charity Trees for Life, as part of a long-running project to restore the Caledonian Forest.  There are now around 1,500 native trees planted in ‘The Naturesave Grove’, which include Alder, Ash, Birch, Oak, Rowan and Scots Pine. As this rich habitat is restored it will support wildlife such as red squirrel, black grouse, capercaillie, pine marten and golden eagles.

who were established in the Scottish Highlands in 1989 and have planted more than a million trees with vital help from volunteers and corporate supporters. The charity is working to ensure the Caledonian Forest grows from the last patches of the original wild forest that remain so it can grow again in large areas of Scotland. The charity is also seeking to ensure the wild forest can grow at a scale that enables rewilding to happen so nature can look after itself, especially around Glen Affric and Glenmoriston where it has worked for many years

and takes its name from the Romans, who called Scotland ‘Caledonia’, meaning ‘wooded heights’. However, there has been a long history of deforestation in Scotland, and clearance of the land began in Neolithic times. Over the centuries, the forest shrank as the human population grew, and some parts were deliberately burned to eradicate ‘vermin’ such as the wolf. More recently, large areas were felled to satisfy the needs of industry, particularly after the timber supply in England had been exhausted. The widespread introduction of sheep and a large increase in the numbers of red deer ensured that once the forest was cleared, it did not return.

and the native pinewoods have been reduced to 35 isolated remnants (shown in white on the map to the left). Gone with the trees are all the large mammals, with the exception of the deer. Species such as the brown bear and the wild boar had become extinct by the 10th and 17th centuries respectively, while the last to disappear was the wolf, when the final individual was shot in 1743. The shaded part of the map also shows the target area of about 1,000 square miles where Trees for Life are working to restore the native forest.