The Forest Carbon Woodland Creation Gold Award

The Forest Carbon Gold Award for planting 1,000,000 trees in the UK is as much about quality as quantity. The one million carbon-capturing native trees must meet Kyoto Protocol principles of additionality and permanence as well as all relevant UK biodiversity and forestry standards. Our Gold Award represents significant environmental gains to the UK arising from an organisation’s voluntary investment.

The Green Insurance Company is our first partner to achieve the Gold Award for planting one million mixed species trees across the UK. Their first scheme was planted in 2008 and now they’re responsible for eighteen new woodlands. A further four are currently under preparation to meet a growing demand for their ‘green’ insurance policies.

TGIC vehicle policies are sold pre-loaded with carbon-capturing compensation for all their policy-holders’ annual CO2 emissions - which means new areas of Britain are being reforested as a direct result of drivers taking out insurance with that particular company.

(from left)  Charlotte Hanna (Marketing Manager, TGIC)
June Lynch (MD of parent company Kwikfit Insurance)
Steve Prior (Forest Carbon)
Stewart Stevenson MSP, Minister

On Saturday 11th June one such policy holder marked this remarkable achievement by planting the ‘official’ millionth tree at their 18th scheme (known as ‘Ardochy’) in Inverness-shire. TGIC’s millionth tree competition winner was helped by local Scouts and cheered on by company staff and Forest Carbon's James Hepburne Scott and Steve Prior.

At a second event, on the 14th June, Stewart Stevenson MSP (Scottish Minister for the Environment and Climate Change) helped MD June Lynch plant a commemorative tree - a rowan - outside TGIC’s headquarters in Uddingston, near Glasgow. Also attending was the Forestry Commission’s Chris Waterfield, who is also Project Officer for the UK Woodland Carbon Code.