Plant Healthy passes the 100 Member Mark! We’re excited to announce that our latest certified site is the Newton site of Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).
We’re excited to announce that our latest certified site is the Newton site of Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS). Their certification marks a significant step forward for tree and plant biosecurity and sustainability in the UK.
This achievement reflects the strong uptake of Plant Healthy to date, particularly in the tree sector, but also increasingly in ornamentals and landscaping, by businesses of all sizes taking action to protect our natural environment. In fact, we now have over 3,500 hectares of land, producing more than 180 million trees and plants pa covered by the Plant Health Management Standard (PHMS), and in the last 12 months membership has grown by 36%. These milestones show how the community of certified members continues to expand and strengthen.
Malcolm Catlin, Plant Healthy Project Director said: “Every new certified member is a step towards greater biosecurity and passing the 100-member milestone is obviously a reason for extra celebration. In the case of this nursery, the investment being made in increasing the production of British-grown trees will help meet our planting targets with a high standard of biosecurity in place”.
The Newton site, located in north-east Scotland around 30 miles from Inverness, plays a crucial role in Scotland’s Forest management. It grows trees from seed, to support timber production and woodland creation across the country and will have the capacity to grow around 25 million trees pa, which will contribute to removing over 3 million tonnes of CO₂, highlighting the organisation’s wider environmental impact alongside its commitment to biosecurity.
Chris Haywood, Manager (Field), Forestry and Land Scotland said: “The Plant Healthy certification scheme helps us to identify potential pathways within our supply chain and at the facility. There’s an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide with very helpful resources: a one-stop shop for improving biosecurity practices at the nursery. The scheme is well recognised across the industry now and it identifies us as adhering to strict biosecurity practices with ongoing monitoring.” He added: "The process was very well presented via the online information, with clear guidance on good practice and very clear steps in making our facility biosecurity safe/prepared for audit”.
We highlighted this achievement at the Scottish Plant Health Conference on 7 October, where Plant Healthy Director, Malcolm Catlin, also talked about the importance of the growing community of certified members, its collective impact and our plans for the next five years.
With new funding in place, Plant Healthy is now able to pursue its aims with more pace. These include: improving accessibility to businesses of all sizes; growing membership across the landscaping and design, ornamental and retail sectors; and increasing public awareness of plant health and the part they can play.
This milestone is more than a number; it symbolises the growing strength of a community dedicated to safeguarding trees and plants health across the UK.
Here’s to the next 100!