West Loch Ard land management plan

The West Loch Ard Land Management Plan was approved by Scottish Forestry on 13th March 2023, following consultation with a range of stakeholders and will be due for revision in 2033.

The plan is an amalgamation of two previous plans - Corrie and Corriegrennan. The forest blocks are nestled beside each other in the shadow of Ben Lomond, sharing many similar characteristics and objectives they suit being brought together in to one larger plan.

Located within the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, roughly 5 miles southwest of Aberfoyle and part of the larger Loch Ard Forest, West Loch Ard occupies 2400ha of mainly forested ground leading up on to the open upper slopes of the Ben Lomond range. This part of Loch Ard Forest is mainly focused on the production of quality softwood species for the national timber market with 58% of the species being conifer. Originally planted in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, 50% of the forested area is now in to its 2nd rotation.

Although centrally placed within the National Park, West Loch Ard does not host much in the way of organised recreation routes only bordering on to the routes of 2 long distance paths. Many of the surrounding mountain tops are also rarely visited with the main point of interest being Ben Lomond which is just outside the plan area.

Location

The plan area is centred on Ordnance Survey Grid Reference NS440981. A location map can be found at the link below.

Text

• Certificate of approval (PDF)
• West Loch Ard LMP - main text (PDF)
• Consultation record (PDF)
• Table of operations (PDF)

Land management plan documents and maps

• M1 Location map (PDF)
• M2 Management proposals (PDF)
• M3 Planned operations (PDF)
• M4 Restocking proposals (PDF)
• M5 Roads, tracks and access (PDF)
• M6 Conservation and heritage (PDF)
• M7 Water catchments (PDF)
• M8 Viewpoints (PDF)
• M9 Utilities (PDF)
• M10 Current species (PDF)
• M11 Concept

Visualisations

• VP1 Craigmore (PDF)
• VP2 Ben Lomond (PDF)