Borders Forest Trust
Ancrum, Scottish Borders, United Kingdom · Nonprofit · Regional · since 1996
Restoring native woodland and wild habitats across the Southern Uplands of Scotland since 1996
About
Borders Forest Trust (BFT) is a Scottish charity based at Monteviot Nurseries, Ancrum, near Jedburgh, set up in January 1996 to restore native woodland to Southern Scotland, the part of mainland Scotland with the least native woodland. Its flagship is the Wild Heart of Southern Scotland: Carrifran Wildwood (bought in 2000 with donations from around 600 supporters, where over 750,000 trees and shrubs have been planted), Corehead and the Devil's Beef Tub (2009) and the 1,800 ha Talla and Gameshope estate (2013), together over 3,000 hectares of connected habitat restoration including peatland. Volunteers and contractors plant tens of thousands of native trees and montane plants each winter, and BFT also runs community woodland, orchard and education projects across the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.
What they run
Restoration of a 1,500-acre glen in the Moffat Hills to native woodland; planting began on 1 January 2000 and volunteers still plant several thousand trees a year on the upper rim.
1,800 ha upland estate bought in 2013 where native woodland and montane scrub are being created and degraded peatland restored.
640 ha farm acquired in 2009 near Moffat, planted with native trees and montane plants by volunteers and contractors.
Trees by type of work
| Activity | Trees | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 🌲 Reforestation | 750,000 | 2024–2025 |
Only figures attached to a named program count here. Organization-wide totals sit in the table below.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funds raised (USD) | 2025 | 1,335,000 | Organization-wide | Estimated | sourceTrustees' annual report and accounts for year ended 30 June 2025 (filed with OSCR, charity SC024358): 'income of GBP 998,205 in the year'; expenditure GBP 815,082. Converted at 1 GBP = 1.3374 USD (open.er-api.com, 7 Nov 2026). |
| Trees planted | 2024 | 23,000 | Organization-wide | Independently verified | sourceDnG24 (Moffat), 17 May 2024: '23,000 trees being planted in the hills surrounding the town since autumn' (2023-24 season) across Talla and Gameshope, Carrifran and Corehead; site breakdown in the article sums to about 25,000 trees and montane plants. |
| Trees plantedto date | 2024 | 750,000 | Carrifran Wildwood | Independently verified | sourceWikipedia, citing Ben Martynoga, The Guardian, 20 March 2024: 'Over 750,000 trees and shrubs were strategically planted' in the first 24 years at Carrifran. |
| Hectares restoredto date | 2026 | 300 | Talla and Gameshope | Estimated | sourceSame nomination: Talla & Gameshope has '220 hectares of native woodland and montane scrub habitat' created and '80 hectares of degraded peatland' restored; 220 + 80 = 300 ha. Derived sum. |
| Trees planted | 2025 | 10,500 | Talla and Gameshope | Independently verified | sourceScottish Land & Estates Helping It Happen Awards nomination (2026): in 2025 the Trust 'secured further support to plant an additional 10,500 native trees' as part of restoring 15 hectares of priority habitat. |
How they report
What earned it
- 5/20 Publishes annual tree figures: 1 year of annual figures on record (5 points each, up to 4 years)
- 15/15 Figures are recent: Latest annual figure is for 2024
- 10/10 Every figure has a public source: 5 of 5 figures link to a source
- 15/15 Publishes financials or cost per tree: Revenue or cost-per-tree figure on record
- 0/15 Reports survival or monitoring: No survival or monitoring figure
- 10/10 Independently verified figure: At least one figure confirmed by a third party
- 10/10 Breaks figures down by program: Figures attached to named programs
- 5/5 Reports volunteers or events: Public events listed
- Latest annual figure
- 23,000 trees in 2024
- Compare
- Put Borders Forest Trust next to others · method
Upcoming events
- Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop in the OrchardRegisterSat, Jan 30, 2027, 10:00 AM GMT · Tree care workday · Drygrange
- Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop in the OrchardRegisterSat, Jan 30, 2027, 10:00 AM GMT · Training / workshop · Melrose