Rosarie and Greenhills Land Management Plan

The Rosarie and Greenhills blocks sit near Mulben in Aberdeenshire, with main access points from the A95 Keith to Craigellachie road. The forest is mostly made up of conifers, planted originally for timber, with Sitka spruce the most common tree species.

The next version of the Rosarie and Greenhills Land Management Plan (LMP) will also include recently planted areas at Broadfield and Curlusk, which lie within or next to the current forest blocks.

The current ten-year LMP will expire on 23 September 2025. We’ve started the review process, and this first consultation invites your views. We’re asking stakeholders – including statutory bodies, third sector groups, businesses, neighbours and individuals – to share their thoughts on how Rosarie and Greenhills should be managed over the next ten years.

If you’d like to send us your feedback but aren’t sure where to start, you could think about the following questions:

• What’s your connection to this place?
• Why is this place important to you?
• Is there a significant feature or issue we should know about?

This plan is at an early draft stage, but a few key objectives have been identified. You can find more detail in the stakeholder consultation document, linked at the bottom of the page.

• Timber production will likely stay a key focus. We’ll need to restructure older areas and keep adding new broadleaf and conifer woodland.
• Several small watercourses start in the forest and flow into the River Spey and River Isla. These rivers are important for wildlife and drinking water. We’ll focus on improving riverbank habitats and keeping them connected.
• We’ll also improve how the forest fits into the landscape by softening forest edges and avoiding rigid, geometric planting patterns.

The timeline for the plan review is shown below. The consultation periods highlighted will mainly take place online. We’ll contact stakeholders and neighbours directly and place signs at forest entrances with details about how to get involved.

• May 2025: initial scoping, including public consultation (28 days)
• May to June 2025: preparation of the draft plan 
• June to July 2025: final stakeholder scoping and public consultation on draft proposals (28 days)
• July 2025: preparation of the final plan
• August 2025: submission to Scottish Forestry for approval (the submitted LMP will be available on their public register)

• Land management plan
• Map 1 - location
• Map 2 - key features
• Map 3 - current species
• Map 4 - management coupes
• Map 5 - future habitats and species
• Map 6 - thinning coupes
• Map 7 - thinning approvals
• Map 8 - soils
• Map 9 - timber haulage
• Map 10 - deadwood ecological potential
• Appendix 1 - consultation record
• Appendix 2 - tolerance table
• Appendix 3 - visualisations
• Appendix 4 - restock prescriptions
• Appendix 5 - deer management plan