Scottish Water is on track to hit a major milestone of 500,000 trees planted through its woodland creation programme by the end of this planting season. More than 245 hectares of the water company’s land will be planted with native woodland before March 2025.

This year’s schemes will see more than 245 hectares planted with schemes getting underway across the country in the coming months on Scottish Water landholdings, including at Loch Katrine, Backwater Reservoir and Talla Reservoir. The planting of native woodland made up of oak, alder, hawthorn, rowan and birch tree comes on the back of a number of other woodland creation projects planted in previous years.

Cumulatively, they are set to capture more than 2885 tonnes of carbon per annum, while increasing biodiversity and protecting water quality at reservoirs by slowing the movement of water over the land.

More woodland creation schemes are also being planned for future years, as part of Scottish Water’s response to the climate and biodiversity crises and the drive to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

Scottish Water’s General Manager for Net Zero, Elise Cartmell, said:

“We are delighted to be on track to reach this major milestone of half a million trees planted through our woodland creation programme, which represents a key part of our net zero journey.

“Planting native woodlands in a sensitive manner on our land is an effective way to capture large amounts of carbon, while also protecting the water quality of our reservoirs - the trees help to hold more water in the land and reduce the amount of material being washed off the hillsides during heavy rain so there are multiple benefits from these schemes.”

“We are committed to the sustainable management of our landholdings across Scotland and have a responsibility to maximise opportunities to improve biodiversity, lock up carbon and protect water quality at our sites.”

Scottish Water has committed to meeting net zero total emissions across all its operational and investment activities by 2040.