On Friday, 21 October 2022, a small group met in the forests of the Parc Naturel Region Gruyère Pays-d’Enhaut at La Tine to contribute to the Queen’s Green Canopy – an initiative to commemorate the life and reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. How did this come about? GstaadLife went along to find out. What is the Queen’s Green Canopy?
The Queen’s Green Canopy was established to create a living legacy to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by planting over a million trees in her name. Initially launched to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, it was extended on her death to honor Her Majesty’s lifetime of service.
Support for the initiative extended beyond the UK, with trees being planted in other geographies, too. Camilla Leigh, a British citizen and long-time Pays-d’Enhaut resident, was inspired to get involved. “I thought there’s such a strong connection with the English community in this region, and as nobody else was doing anything for the Queen’s Green Canopy, I would.”
Camilla set to work. After approaching Mr. Yolan Aubert of the Groupement Forestier du Pays-d’Enhaut about the idea of planting trees, and with the agreement of Jean-Pierre Neff, the mayor of Rossinière, the project got off the ground.

Fundraising & Planning
Camilla began fundraising and received enough cash and pledges to arrange for three oak trees, three ‘Englantine’ wild roses and three European spindle to be planted. On the advice of the Groupement Forestier du Pays-d’Enhaut, it was arranged for the trees to be planted in the autumn. So it was that the group assembled last October in the forest in the rain to commemorate her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Ceremony in the Forest
Romain Jans and Samuel Roch of the Groupement Forestier did most of the heavy work. They prepared the site and sank posts to build a protective fence around the plants – mainly to keep people and larger animals from trampling on them.
Prior to planting the final oak tree, there was a short ceremony. Camilla Leigh gave an impressive speech in French, explaining how the project had come about and thanked everyone who had contributed their time, effort or money.
Camilla Chalmers, representing the British Embassy in Berne, expressed her thanks to everyone who had worked to make this tree planting possible. She explained that nine other trees are being planted in Switzerland as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy, all at locations visited by the Queen. Whereas they are all in more urban areas, she felt sure Her Majesty would have approved of the beautiful forest setting in Pays-d’Enhaut. Camilla explained the site at La Tine will be added to the interactive planting map for Switzerland. This information is shared with the Palace, which likes to see how broadly the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative has been adopted. Camilla finished her speech by presenting a commemorative plaque to mark the site.
Jean-Pierre Neff, the mayor of Rossinière expressed his delight at being part of this project and explained that the site at La Tine will be further developed as an educational resource for children to learn about the forest and forestry management.
The ceremony ended with an apéro followed by a fondue at ‘Chez Betty at La Chaudanne.
For more information and to view the interactive planting map for Switzerland visit: https://www.thinglink. com/scene/1639638803012386819

ANNA CHARLES

The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is a UK-wide tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, by inviting people to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee.” Following the Queen’s death, it was extended to the end of March 2023 to give people the opportunity to plant trees in memoriam to honor Her Majesty. For more information visit https://queensgreencanopy.org