FORESTRY and Land Scotland’s team at the Newton Tree Nursery, near Elgin, have caught up with their lockdown-delayed work and completed their seed sowing operations, it has been announced.

When the Nursery closed at the beginning of lockdown, there were real concerns over the long-term impact on tree supply. However, with lockdown restrictions eased and forestry getting back to work, the Newton team have gone above and beyond to catch up, FLS said.

Alan Duncan, head of plant and seed supply for FLS, said: “In a normal year, the Newton Nursery team’s work produces about 7 million seedlings. With the arrival of lockdown we initially feared that all of that might be lost as the annual seasonal window for sowing seed it very short.

 “When they were able to get back to work, the team put in a Herculean effort and not only got our tree nursery operations restarted in difficult circumstances but also completed the programme in such a compressed period of time.

“They all went the extra mile – working longer days and weekends – to ensure there would not be significant downstream impacts on our tree planting programmes and the people who depend on that work.

“It has been a fantastic and much appreciated team effort.”

The Newton team were amongst the first FLS outdoor staff to resume work, and received bespoke training covering the COVID-19 context. New risk assessment processes and safe working practices have also been introduced.

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