Twenty trees for twenty years.

In 2020 Abacus Mountain Guides turned 20 years old, so to celebrate we headed down to Polldubh in Glen Nevis. Not to go climbing, but to plant trees!! Today we planted 20 beautiful little Scots Pines around the Polldubh crags as our way of giving something back to this spectacular environment that we use every day to make a living, as well as being a little "Happy Birthday to Abacus!"

The trees we planted are part of Nevis Landscape Partnership's Future Forests Project which began with the pine cones being collected from mature Scots Pines growing just across the river on the opposite side of Glen Nevis. Those old trees are a remnant of the Caledonian Pine forest which once covered large parts of the Highlands, but for various reasons there are now only small pockets left. The pine trees struggle to regenerate due to grazing pressure, predominantly from red and roe deer, so they need to be protected if they are going to grow successfully.

Fortunately for our birthday trees they are safe inside various exclosures where no deer or sheep will be able to nibble them, and hopefully in a few decades time there will be plenty of big, strong pine trees on the slopes of Glen Nevis which are regenerating and continuing the growth of the forest themselves.

The environment needs our help now more than ever, and at Abacus we believe that we should be giving something back to the mountains and glens that provide so much for us. This is why we will continue with our tree planting and make it a yearly event so we can see healthy, living habitats full of biodiversity continuing to grow.