Scottish Water set to create new Fife woodland to capture 16.000 tonnes of carbon

It will be created close to Scottish Water’s Lomond Hills reservoir complex in the Kingdom.

The water company has planted 48,000 trees on 25 hectares of former grazing land, helping to improve biodiversity and capture thousands of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, with farming being relocated to a more favourable part of its estate.

In a bid to recreate natural habitats which have been lost over recent centuries, native broadleaf trees including oak, alder, hawthorn, rowan and birch have been planted across the hillside in an irregular pattern in contrast to the more traditional rows you would find in commercial forests.

Dr Mark Williams, climate change manager at Scottish Water outlined the aims of the project.

He said: “As a publicly owned utility with a lot of land, we have a duty to support biodiversity in Scotland which can also help capture carbon in natural ways to support our net zero goals. We don’t have enough of this native, ancient type of woodland across Scotland and by delivering projects like this across suitable parts of our land, we can do our bit in helping to bring it back.

“The new woodland will capture a huge amount of carbon equating to around eight to 10 tonnes per hectare on average every year over the next 60 or 70 years. At peak growth, in 15-45 years’ time, the maturing trees may capture as much as 20 tonnes per hectare per annum. Collectively, over 60 years, the site could capture over 16,000 tonnes of carbon.”