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…
Tag: scottish forestry
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…
In November I spent an hour or so on the eastern side of Coille Coire Chuilc, north west of Crianlarich (for maps showing location see below). The wood (“coille”) is the second most southerly fragment of the Caledonian Pine Forest in Scotland and protected as such, being a Site of Special Scientific Interest and being…
Following my second post (see here) on the Inverardran forest road near Crianlarch, Mary Jack sent me a list of all the prior notifications for forest roads considered by Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) last year and their decision in each case. This post considers what that list (see here) tells us…
It is most welcome that the collective voice of those calling for an end to the use of plastic tree tubes is growing in strength and that Forest and Land Scotland has committed to minimising their use (see here). But our National Parks should go a step further and ban their use completely. Many people…