Glenisla Forest is situated on the southern edge of the Cairngorms National Park. Appearing misnamed with Glen Isla being the glen to the west and south of the forest between Glen Shee, Prosen and Doll; Glenisla is used as the generic term for the minor glens of Finlet, Markie, Damff and Taitney.

Tree planting began in Glen Isla in 1949 continuing for the next two decades. Through the 1950s Larch and pine were favoured with Sitka spruce in the 1960s. Restructuring of the forest started in 1993 when the first crops were approaching maturity.

The site is important for the habitat it provides for a number of Scotland’s’ iconic species of wildlife. The Forest is an important commercial forest supplying raw material to local and regional industries. With its location in the famous Glens in Angus the site also attracts recreational use both around the Backwater reservoir but also through the core path network through the rest of the site. Response to the local presence of Phytopthora ramorum, a disease of Larch, will form a significant element of the plan.

Consultation

Many thanks to those who attended the recent drop in session in January 2023 to review the draft Land Management Plan for Glen Isla. We are reviewing the feedback from these responses and in the interim the draft plan documents we shared at the session can be found below.

Proposed Timeline:

• The present Land Management Plan expires in March 2022
• Scoping of stakeholder interests concluded in February 2021
• Draft proposals are due for public consultation in March 2022
• Draft Plan ratified and submitted to Scottish Forestry by May 2022
• Final Statutory consultation period in Nov - Dec 2022

Documents and maps

• Glen Isla plan summary (PDF)
• Concept (PDF)
• Context map (PDF)
• Felling proposals (PDF)
• Restock species (PDF)
• Issues map (PDF)