We are currently carrying out full revision of this Land Management Plan (LMP) to determine future management proposals for our forests and land in the Fort Augustus and Glen Moriston areas.

The revised LMP will replace the current, expiring Plan – originally approved in October 2014 and available to view through our ‘Active Plans’ page (link on the left of this page). The revised Plan will provide detail on how we intend to manage this land over the next ten years (2024 - 2034) and present our overall vision for the land for the next 25 years.

The plan covers an area of approximately 9,716 hectares (see maps below) and seeks to address issues around the following:

• management of productive conifer woodland;
• ancient and riparian native woodland restoration;
• wider habitat management;
• conservation of scheduled and designated features in and around the plan area;
• consideration of adaptation and the resilience of habitats and species to climate change.

Our goal is to ensure these forests and open ground are managed in as practical and effective a manner as possible for broad social, economic and environmental benefit. A Brief document has been produced to summarise the direction anticipated and some of the key issues shaping the review and is also available below.

This consultation page will be used to share updates as the LMP revision progresses: i.e. uploading additional maps/documents and outlining developing objectives and prescriptions during the Timeline (below). We will also canvass wider public opinion through local face-to-face meetings and correspondence with key stakeholders during the evolution of the new LMP – culminating in notification of a finalised draft LMP that will be submitted for approval to the forestry regulator Scottish Forestry.

At least one public village hall meeting will be held for presentation of indicative plans and for local discussion and feedback. This will be advertised and held locally and will likely result in a number of consequent discussions with different stakeholders over specific issues/concerns. The offer of additional online presentations will be offered to the two relevant community councils if deemed helpful and/or necessary as the revision process reaches a conclusion. Throughout, we endeavour to use a variety of different methods of engagement – email and postal correspondence, telephone discussion and in-person meetings where possible - to suit the range of individuals and organisations wishing to contribute and discuss emerging Plan detail.

We would be pleased to hear from any interested parties at any time during the drafting of this Plan. If you have preliminary comments, please send them to us using the contact details at the bottom of this page. 

Timeline

• April 2024: External Scoping – this includes notification of LMP revision to local and statutory stakeholders, neighbouring estates and community organisations.
• April - May: Follow up on external stakeholder consultation, local neighbourhood consultation where requested and development of an early draft LMP.
• Early June: A local public meeting will be held to present formative objectives and to listen to opinion (venue, date and time to be arranged. Advertised locally and online to stakeholders).
• Late June: Revision of early draft LMP in light of feedback and internal staff review.
• July: Draft LMP posted to this Consultation web page and also submitted to Scottish Forestry (SF) for consideration. This includes a further 30-day period on SF’s online Public Register for any further comments/feedback.
• September: Assuming successful approval, the new LMP comes into effect.

Documents and maps

• Land Management Plan Revision Brief (PDF)
• Map 1 (PDF) – Location of the Land Management Plan area
• Map 2 (PDF) - Key Issues and Challenges
• Map 2 (PDF) - annotations text file
• Maps 3a (PDF) - Indicative Felling Proposals – derived from existing plan - to be revised by the new plan
• Maps 3b (PDF) - Indicative Felling Proposals – derived from existing plan - to be revised by the new plan
• Maps 4a (PDF) - Indicative Future Habitat Proposals - derived from existing plan – to be revised by the new plan
• Maps 4b (PDF) - Indicative Future Habitat Proposals - derived from existing plan – to be revised by the new plan