BrewDog reveals HALF of saplings planted for its million tree Lost Forest have ... trends now

Controversial beer brand BrewDog's much-vaunted efforts to plant new trees in the Scottish Highlands have hit a snag after it emerged 250,000 of the saplings planted in a partly publicly funded project have already died.

The 'Lost Forest' on Kinrara estate in the Cairngorms has been a key part of the Scottish brewery's marketing campaign as it seeks to reinvent itself as a 'carbon negative' beer producer, a claim that has landed it in hot water with ad watchdogs.

But campaigners have obtained documents showing more swathes of the trees it has planted on the estate have already died - and that £690,000 of taxpayer cash has been put towards the company's environmental efforts to date.

BrewDog, which stands to receive £1.2million of grants in total for its forestry project, says that the trees were killed by an unseasonably hot summer as company boss James Watt moaned: 'Sustainability is hard.'

However, the failure to protect the trees has prompted environmentalists to call for the cash to be returned.

Campaigner Nick Kempe discovered that £690,000 had been paid to BrewDog or one of its subsidiaries to date by Forestry Scotland, a Scottish Government agency responsible for woodland management.

Via Freedom of Information requests, the agency confirmed to him that, while inspectors had not carried out a full assessment of the site, they believed more than half of the trees were dead, including almost all oak trees planted.

BrewDog had pledged to plant around 460,000 trees within five years - with a total of 20 years to meet its obligations.

But the forestry body noted: 'There was high mortality of (pine) trees across the site, with an initial estimate of 50 to 56 per cent.'

It added of native broadleaved (oak) trees: 'They noted very high mortality of around 95 per cent.'

Inspectors say that evidence of deer within the fencing was noted - with the animals believed to enjoy tucking into tasty saplings more than older trees - and that 'climatic factors' may also be to blame.

But campaigner Mr Kempe has accused BrewDog of 'greenwashing' - using eco schemes to outwardly improve its environmental credentials - and says its efforts have been 'disastrous' for the estate, with land churned up to plant the trees. 

He also claims the company may have actually generated more carbon emissions with its efforts that will take years to offset.

Writing on his Parks Watch Scotland blog, he said: 'Scottish Forestry and BrewDog decided to plant a new forest, financed with large sums of public money, with disastrous consequences for nature and carbon emissions.

'It is to the credit of the Scottish Forestry staff involved in the inspection that they made some attempt to describe all the dead trees and natural regeneration at Kinrara.

'However, they are powerless to change this ecologically destructive system of publicly financed greenwashing.'

After Mr Kempe published his findings, BrewDog boss James Watt took to LinkedIn to admit that some 250,000 trees had died because of what he said were extreme climatic conditions.

He wrote: 'Last year we planted 500,000 trees in partnership with our friends at Scottish Woodlands. But then came the fifth hottest Scottish summer on record. 

'An incredibly hot and dry summer was followed by a harsh winter as savage gales and sweeping frosts hammered the Scottish Highlands.

'It's disappointing. Our partners have estimated that around 50% of the 500,000 saplings planted did not survive their first 12 months.'

Mr Watt, who is dating Made In Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo, added 50,000 trees have been replanted in the last two weeks.

He continued: 'One thing that is for sure is that sustainability is hard. Whatever you do, you could do more. 

'Whatever you do, there are critics who love nothing more than to

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