I am very grateful to all the people who have promoted my post on Sunday (see here) about Scottish Forestry and the tree planting disaster at Kinrara and my apologies that the parkswatch website then crashed. This does not appear to have been due to a cyber attack by defenders of the forestry grants system or…
Tag: scottish forestry
In mid-February (see here) I described how many of the trees planted by BrewDog, as part of the Phase I creation of its Lost Forest, had died and how they appeared to be investing little, if any, of their own money in the whole disastrous project. A week after the post I received a response…
How many of the trees planted at Kinrara last year have survived? After my posts in the autumn about the destruction being caused by BrewDog’s tree planting at Kinrara and how it has been releasing carbon into the atmosphere (see here) and (here), I heard through a third party that someone with professional expertise thought…
Ten days ago tree nurseries were in the news (see here) when Christie’s of Fochabers were quoted as claiming “We will have to burn millions of trees after cuts” as a result of the Scottish Government deciding to cut funding for tree planting by 44% to £45.4m next year. The BBC quoted Mr Christie, the…
While staying in Newtonmore over New Year I heard that Storm Gerrit, which had hit Scotland on Boxing Day, had caused some spectacular damage in the lower parts of Glen Feshie. On my last day I went to have a look, little expecting that I would also get a post on sheep and woodland out…
Following my post on deer fencing and capercaillie on Speyside (see here), a friend and sometime contributor to Parkswatch, Nick Halls, brought to my attention to the latest issue of the Geographer, the magazine of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. It is all about trees. In it there is an interview with Thomas MacDonell who…
It is just over a year since I explained how the Cairngorms National Park Authority has ignored the role of deer fencing in the decline of capercaillie (see here). While the causes of capercaillie and black grouse decline are complex – they include loss of habitat and climate change – the one thing that has…
The recent report from Cairngorms Connect (see here), which explained the last 30 years experience of rewilding on the western slopes of the Cairngorms massif, was covered in the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald (“Fences are “no answer in Forests””) and attracted two letters in responses from Basil Dunlop and myself – see below. The information…
“Forest” = “a large area covered with trees and plants/undergrowth” Following my posts about BrewDog’s “Lost Forest” at Kinrara in February (see here) and (here), I was sent further photos showing work that had taken place in October and November last year to restore peatland and prepare the ground for tree planting. It looked terrible…
{NB this post has been corrected following a comment below} The GR5/52 from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean is about 650km long and crosses through two of France’s National Parks, the Vanoise and the Mercantour (and a number of other protected areas). Much of the lower parts of the route go through forest and I…
Scottish Forestry has revealed in correspondence that it has awarded £2,559,303.91 (£200k more than I had thought) to Abrdn for tree planting at Far Ralia. It also sent a copy of the approved plan (above) which appears the same as that issued for consultation. Scottish Forestry has therefore approved the plans submitted on behalf of…
After my last post on ABRDN’s disastrous planting proposals for Far Ralia (see here) I was phoned by Renwick Drysdale of AKRE trees (see here) asking to meet so he could explain to me what they are trying to do. Unfortunately, I am out of Scotland for most of the six weeks but agreed to…
Two years Abrdn Property Income Trust (formerly the Standard Life Property and Income Trust) bought 1400 hectares of land from the Ralia and Drumochter Estate with the stated intention of using the land to offset carbon emissions by planting trees. Abrdn were advised on the purchase and the “habitat restoration project” (see here) by Fenwick…
The owner of Akre trees, who has family connections with the Ralia Estate (see here), not only claims to have advised Abrdn on their purchase of “Far Ralia” but to be behind the native woodland project for the estate (see here). Akre also appears lined up to carry out the planting should Scottish Forestry give…
Following my most recent post on the Ralia hill road (see here), I was sent further photos which support my argument that the road upgrade work should have required full planning permission. The Construction Method Statement accompanying the Prior Notification, which was produced by Taiga Upland in conjunction with Kilrie Trees and approved by Highland…
On 9th May Highland Council issued a decision on the proposals submitted on behalf of ABDN to upgrade the track to Far Ralia and construct an alternative to the Wade Bridge (see here). The way the proposals have been dealt with and the decision itself raise serious questions about how the planning system in the…
The approach that Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is taking to native woodland restoration at Ben Avon in the Trossachs based on natural regeneration, which I considered in my last post (see here), provides a stark contrast with how they are managing their land in the McAlpine plantation by Loch Morlich which I first considered…
This post provides an update to what I wrote in October on Forest and Land Scotland’s purchase of the Glen Prosen estate (see here). So far, Forest and Land Scotland has issued not a single news release https://forestryandland.gov.scot/news-releases about their purchase or their plans. Nor does it appear to have published any other information which…
Following the completion of my post on Deer and Peat Bog restoration on the Glen Banchor estate, I was sent a photo by a reader of deer grazing the Caledonian Pine forest remnants at Kinveachy, all of which is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and some of which is a Special Area of…
Writing in the magazine British Wildlife in August 2018 David Hetherington, ecologist with the Cairngorms National Park Authority, explained the importance of natural regeneration in expanding the existing remnants of the Old Caledonian pine forests in the Cairngorms. Natural regeneration is the key defining character of these forests, demonstrating that they are descended directly from…
Having highlighted the issue of forest fences being covered in plastic to prevent bird collisions a year ago (see here), it is very good to see that the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project has been doing more work with the Seafield estate to remove the orange netting. Unfortunately, rather than removing the fences completely, they have been…
Following my post on the riparian planting in Balquhidder (see here) this photo, taken within ten minutes walk of Inverlochlarig car park, illustrates two key things that are wrong with Scottish forestry practices. It happens to be in Balquhidder and on the Blaircreich Forest Estate, run by the Economic Forestry Group, but in truth could…
Just four months after Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) bought back the lease for an undisclosed sum from the Camping and Caravanning Club (see here), the Strathy has revealed in an excellent article that this arm of the Scottish Government has not even shortlisted the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust (the AGCT) to operate the…
Last month it was reported that Brewdog had been awarded over £1m in grants by Scottish Forestry Scotland as part of its Lost Forest project at Kinrara. The Scottish Forestry website is very hard to use – searches for Brewdog, Kinrara and on its land based database all come up blank – and I have…
On 15th April 2021 the Balavil estate submitted a prior notification (see here) to Highland Council to create 2.6km of new forestry “tracks” around Creagbui, 3km northwest of Kingussie and north of the A9. This is the seventh planning application/prior notification for new roads on Balavil in the last six years. The Cairngorms National Park…