Tuesday, 10 July 2018
With Scotland currently enjoying its hottest summer since records began, there's no excuse for staying home all day this July and August. The summer holidays are the perfect time to explore Scotland's best-loved wild places. With a little planning, its easy to find the perfect picnic spot, or activities that won't break the bank. Why not get outside and soak up some of that lovel...
Tuesday, 03 July 2018
Scotland's hottest summer on record brought hundreds of people out onto the golden sands of Loch Morlich last weekend. Many enjoyed cooling off in the crystal-clear water or took part in some watersport adventures, whilst others took in the amazing scenery and relaxed, soaking up the rays. Unfortunately along with the sunshine and people come two very big problems - litter&n...
Wednesday, 27 June 2018
The public votes have been counted, and we can finally declare the winners of our massive Spring Photo Jam competition! Winner #1 - with more than twice as many votes as the nearest finalist! - is 14-year old Jodi Clarke, for her moody, rain-swept shot of two sheep on a country road. Jodi's dramatic photo "captures the atmosphere of that place, Scottish climate and all," according to our j...
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Over the past week, our three judges have been hard at work narrowing down 100+ entries to our Spring Photo Jam competition to pick just 12 finalists for the public vote. It's been a tough job - there were so many brilliant images submitted, coming from photographers who ranged in age from 10 to 70. You gave us everything from intimate portraits of birds, bugs and beasties to detailed stu...
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
When you're a youngster, the holidays seem to last forever, stretching on and on in a sunlit haze of long evenings and bright, early mornings. The most important thing to do on your holidays, of course, is to make new memories with friends and family... but keeping the kids entertained is always a challenge, especially with the cost of indoor activities in towns and cities. Looking for so...
Tuesday, 19 June 2018
Jackie Cumberbirch is a Ranger for Forest Enterprise Scotland, based in Moray & Aberdeenshire Forest District. What does being a Ranger involve? “It’s my job to assess what wildlife is present in Clashindarroch forest and woods in north and central Aberdeenshire before forestry work such as cutting trees (providing wood and timber for use in our daily lives), road construction and t...
Wednesday, 13 June 2018
The official Forestry Commission Scotland Spring Photo Jam has come to an end! It's been an incredible week, looking through more than 100 entries to find the best of the best, with contributions from aspiring photographers of all ages, as well as experienced snappers and a few professionals. As you can see from the small selection above, our Facebook and Twitter feeds have provided a riot of co...
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Clarach in happier times... Throughout the Spring season, we’ve been following the story of Mrs O, an osprey at the Tweed Valley project who has produced several eggs so far this year, along with her breeding partner. While Mrs O is thriving, sadly this week we had some very sad news from our team at the Aberfoyle Osprey Project. To our great dismay, Clarach, the female osprey who had n...
Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Did you take some incredible photos this Spring? With Summer just around the corner, we want to see your very best pictures. To give you a little inspiration, we’ve come up with 4 categories - we’ll crown a champion of each category, and two overall winners! We’ve got two incredible grand prizes up for grabs… two £100 vouchers for Go Ape, the UK’s number one treetop adventure, to use...
Tuesday, 29 May 2018
30 kilos of hazel nuts were painstakingly hand-gathered to plant 4,000 hazel and 400 oak trees to create a new hazel wood in the Faery Isles, Knapdale, West Argyll.
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
The Scottish wildcat is one of our best loved native mammals. Breeding with pets and feral cats threatens numbers; as does our presence in wild places. There's concern that forestry adds to that threat. Clashindarroch in Aberdeenshire shows how a working forest can remain a stronghold for wildcats.
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Wildcats are one of Scotland’s most endangered animals and their conservation and protection is of the highest priority. As with other endangered species, we work hard to protect them as part of our sustainable forest management. Our aim is to ensure that wildcats can thrive on the National Forest Estate.
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Congratulations to The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) - this month, they have announced a new International Dark Sky Place: Tumacácori National Historical Park in the U.S., bringing the total number of parks up to 100. This is a fantastic achievement, and as we were just the 5th on that list of parks, we’re extra proud to see them reach 100 locations. The IDA now protects more than ...
Wednesday, 09 May 2018
The photo above, taken last week by one of our rangers in the North Highlands, shows a black grouse, with its unmistakable postbox-red crest and blue-black feathers. The ‘lekking’ season is when black grouse breed, and a few of our destinations have been affected - Carrick Forest Drive in Galloway Forest Park has seen a delay to planned roadworks in order to give the grouse population room t...