This post provides a follow-up to the uncontrolled fires I observed on Morar on 25th April (see here). The map shows that so far this year far more land has been burned in the east of Scotland than the west and that most of these fires have been on intensively managed grouse moors in the…
Category: Other parts Scotland
On Saturday I walked up White Coomb in the Borders through the Carrifran Wildwood, the native wood creation project that puts others to shame. Descending from Firthhope Rig I was quite surprised to find this Sitka sapling at about 750m in altitude. Usually once Sitka have reached this size they are very difficult to uproot…
Across Scotland’s Highlands, a quiet transformation is underway. Estates once used for grazing or sporting are being rebranded as “natural capital assets,” supported by public grants, enclosed for regeneration, and entered into carbon markets. The narrative is compelling: restore nature, capture carbon, and allow industry to offset its emissions. It presents itself as a virtuous…
Walking in to Oban bothy over Meith Bheinn from Lochailort on Friday afternoon I did not know that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service had issued a warning of extreme risk of wildlife for the West of Scotland (see here). Although squelching over the lower ground, higher up it was very dry underfoot. I had…
[This article originally appeared last year in Mountain Views, the excellent journal of the North East Mountain Trust. I am pleased to republish it, following my post on Seedy Sitka (see here), using some additional photos from other areas to illustrate the points Drennan makes] A walk up Bern Vrackie is a good day out…
I have been meaning to write about the Altan native woodland scheme, just to the south west of Loch Glascarnoch, since I through it in 2018 and 2021. Many hillwalkers will have used the track through the scheme which provides the quickest access to the eastern end of the Fannichs and the Corbett, Beinn Liath…
Yesterday, like many others I took advantage of the break in weather, and headed for the hills. Along with two friends we traversed the Meall nan Tarmachan ridge above Loch Tay from the main car park in fantastic winter conditions, hard snow, almost no wind and clear skies. Returning along the track…
This is the first in a series of posts which looks at what forestry grants to large landowners to plant trees has done for native woodland in Scotland based mainly on the evidence I have seen on the ground over the last few years. It provides lessons for our National Parks, not least because of…
[This post was updated and corrected 12/2/26 to reflect the fact that the costs of creating new plantations are not fully met by Scottish Forestry grants] On Thursday Oxygen Conservation announced (see here) that they have been awarded £3.3m in forestry grants to plant a large chunk of the Invergeldie Estate north of Comrie. …
There can be few among us, who, when they hear the name ‘Galapagos’ do not have mental images conjured up, of all the wonderful TV documentaries over several decades, perhaps even going right back, as in my own case, to the black and white transmissions of ‘Baby-Boomer’ childhood. The Galapagos are imprinted on our collective…
In Scotland we need to restore our native woodland cover. The Government agrees and wants to see 18,000 ha of new woodland created per annum, primarily through native woodland expansion. Not especially ambitious for an emergency, but perhaps overly ambitious for our antiquated grant system which has, except for the year 2023/24, delivered less than…
Following my recent post on the landscape destruction at Tinto (see here), I wrote to the local office of NatureScot and have had a very helpful response. Staff confirmed that they had visited the site twice, the out of control muirburn had caused significant damage to the Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) and that they …
In 2018 Historic Environment Scotland (HES) closed the Radical Road at the base of Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, citing safety concerns . Many viewed this as a serious restriction on established Scottish access rights (see here). At the time, however, it was difficult to challenge the decision, as it rested on the argument…
After my two posts on the out of control muirburn on Tinto Hill 9th/10th April 2025 (see here)and (here), I was sent this photo taken by a friend of a friend. I had been meaning to visit the site before blogging about it again all last year but only managed to do so just before New…
On 3rd December Historic Environment Scotland (HES) submitted a planning application (see here) to the City of Edinburgh Council which includes a proposal to erect a new “temporary” barrier across the Radical Road below Salisbury Crags in Edinburgh. The closing date for comments (see here) is Tuesday 13th January. There have apparently been seven comments…
A video from July 2024 of the site can be seen here. Readers may be familiar with Stobo (see here and here) perhaps one of Scotland’s most environmentally destructive forestry schemes this century. In February 2024, Scottish Forestry awarded a £2 million taxpayer funded contract to the Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund, a ‘registered collective investment…
The legacy of BrewDog and Scottish Woodlands at Kinrara (2) – the Caledonian Pinewood on the Dulnain
I have delayed this second post on the Lost Forest because I wanted to use what has happened at Kinrara to illustrate the arguments I and a number of others made in a paper published in the latest edition of Scottish Forestry: “Caledonian Pinewoods. A Conservation Framework” (Volume 79 No 3 Autumn/Winter 2025). Vicky Allan has…
In his article, “Does Scotland Need the John Muir Trust” (see here), Victor Clements asks: “if the John Muir Trust didn’t exist, would we miss them?” His existential question is relevant for any environmental charity, and it is one that I welcome. In recent months, there has been no shortage of commentary about the John…
(Updated Ed. Note. I offered Jane Smallman, chair of the JMT, the opportunity to reply to this post at the same time it was publishednstating I would be happy to publish any response Jane Smallman (or other trustees of JMT) have to Victor’s criticisms. I am pleased to say David Balharry, the Chief Executive, has…
I thought we lived in a world where science guided our decisions about how best to protect nature and the planet. Sadly this would appear not to be the case. Vested interests and the voices of the powerful now hold sway, with science only deployed by government where there is good reason to expect it’s…
Introduction Two weeks ago (see here), I made the case that BrewDog’s 2020 PR shot of their soon- to- be Lost Forest was not on Speyside at all, but had a much more west coast feel about it. Feedback to the post suggested that the location was Craig Farm in Glen Orchy, and some internet…
[Post updated to include data from most recent Forest Research statistices and corrected 27th September]. Eighteen months ago I wrote a critical post (see here) about how Scottish Forestry is not only funding companies like BrewDog (see here) and Abrdn (see here) to plant trees, they have also been subsidising the production of trees by…
Introduction – Nick Kempe One of the comments on Felicity Martin’s post about the proposed Glen Lednock Windfarm (see here) claimed that objections to windfarms are all the same and represent NIMBYism. Scottish Planning policy, however,emphasises the importance of “local place” to people’s lives and a third of the policies in National Planning Framework 4…
It is over six months since I blogged about how the crisis facing commercial forestry interests at Stobo Hope in the Borders (see here). Since then a successful judicial review by the Stobo Residents Action Group has forced Scottish Forestry, the public agency responsible for regulating forestry and distributing grants, to cancel the £2m grant…
[Ed’s note. My apologies to Felicity Martin who wrote this briefing on the Glen Lednock windfarm application for Parkswatch 10 days ago but which I managed to miss while away. (I have added the illustrations from the planning application). Felicity wrote a piece on Oxygen Conservation and Glen Lednock in April which complements what she has written…