Woodland Trust Scotland
The Woodland Trust Scotland works to plant and halt the loss of native woods and trees and restore existing woodland to peak condition. We also manage and look after around 60 woods in Scotland, covering more than 11,000 hectares from Sutherland to Stranraer. All are free to visit and to explore at any time.
Their extensive website has much information on Highland forests with replanting schemes and protecting trees, woods and spotting wildlife.
Neil Gunn set his novel ‘The Shadow’ in the countryside around his home; Braefarmhouse near Dingwall, Ross-shire and although Dingwall Woods is now privately owned, the Woodland Trust Scotland website details its grid reference and tree species in the area.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/scotland/
Their Work in Scotland
Scotland is native woodland and over half of those woods are in poor condition. Just 1% of our land area has ancient woodland.
We directly manage around 60 woodland sites from Stranraer to Sutherland and Skye to Aberdeenshire; from urban Glenrothes and Livingston to remote Loch Arkaig in Lochaber.
Find a wood
Scotland has better tree cover than the rest of the UK but is poorly wooded compared to most of Europe. Just 18% of Scotland has tree cover compared to a European average of 37%. And only 4% of Scotland is native woodland and over half of those woods are in poor condition. Just 1% of our land area has ancient woodland.
Couldoran appeal, West Highlands
With your support, we're working to transform a large chunk of land right next door to Ben Shieldaig into a thriving mountain haven for rare and iconic wildlife such as the golden eagle, pine marten, red squirrel and otter.
Together we can transform Couldoran’s bare landscape into a vibrant wildlife habitat
In 2019 the Woodland Trust did something truly remarkable – we bought our first mountain!
Thanks to the amazing generosity of supporters who contributed to our appeal, we were able to take Ben Shieldaig in the West Highlands of Scotland into our care. Now we're pleased to announce that we've been able to double it in size by acquiring the neighbouring Couldoran Estate.
It borders Ben Shieldaig to the south and west and lies in Scotland’s rainforest zone - a climate characterised by high rainfall, mild temperatures and clean air which covers less than 1% of the planet. Like its neighbour, the hills of Couldoran were once part of a network of diversely structured woodland habitats that blanketed Scotland’s coast. Today only individual trees and isolated areas of woodland remain, thanks largely to historical deforestation and a significant increase in deer grazing.
Unless we can restore these fragile habitats, the woods and wildlife that rely on them could be lost forever.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our appeal and given us the confidence to complete this incredible acquisition. We had to move faster than anticipated but were able to use some of our financial reserves to finalise the transaction. We are still fundraising to help cover acquisition costs and to manage the Estate and transform the landscape into a wildlife haven. A combined £8M in total will help us achieve our vision.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/give/appeals/couldoran/
