Thursday, 03 November 2022
Local residents in Larbert are being invited by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) to offer feedback on long-term plans for the management of Larbert woods, located beside the Forth Valley Royal Hospital. Sitting within a former designed landscape, this is a significant site for recreation, health and wellbeing with areas of woodland dating back to the 1800s. The site suffered from a lack of manag...
Monday, 31 October 2022
Specially-designed thermal imaging cameras are being used to identify an increasing population of pine martens. Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is trialling innovative technique using thermal imaging cameras to capture the occupancy of over 100 artificial den boxes in Galloway Forest. Trials have been taking place over the past year and have showed positive results for monitoring the local pine...
Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Forestry and Land Scotland’s third ‘Stay the Night’ season is to close this year on Monday 31 October. The widely acclaimed and well-received initiative allowed campervans and motorhomes to use 37 FLS carparks across Scotland for single overnight stays. Established in 2020 as the country emergence from COVID-19 lockdown, Stay the Night aimed to help alleviate pressure on honey-pot tourism ...
Monday, 03 October 2022
Forestry and Land Scotland is inviting feedback as it reviews its ten year plan for Kirroughtree Forest. The forest, which is three times the size of Dumfries, encompasses several ancient woodlands and is also one of the world-class 7Stanes mountain bike venues. The review of the land management plan will define how FLS looks after the forest for the next ten year period, and have a beari...
Saturday, 01 October 2022
Tree seedlings are being grown six times faster in a vertical farm compared to traditional outdoor sowing, in the first UK trials of their kind. Growing 40-50cm tall in just 90 days – something that in a field would take up to 18 months - the tree trials could potentially transform the forestry sector and help UK to meet its net zero targets faster. Vertical farms are more commonly associated ...
Thursday, 29 September 2022
Forestry and Land Scotland is urging members of the public to have more realistic expectations of when access to local storm-damaged forests will resume. Almost a year on from the devastation of Storms Arwen, Malik and Corrie much of the storm damage is still to be cleared and some forest access is still restricted. However, dealing with the aftermath of major storms is not simply a case of movi...
Thursday, 29 September 2022
Local residents in and around Lesmahagow and Coalburn are being invited by Forestry and Land (FLS) to offer feedback on long-term plans for the forests and land they manage in the area. The consultation is a normal ten-year review of the management plan for the area that at the time of the previous review in 2010 was referred to as Auchlochan. The 1000 ha forest is made up of a collection of 7 f...
Friday, 02 September 2022
Forestry and Land Scotland’s East Region team helped secure the private water supply for residents in one of the Angus glens near Glenisla last week ahead of windblow clear-up operations in the area. The 15-strong team worked all day to install a pipeline that will temporarily divert the water supply during harvesting operations to clean up damage from Storm Arwen. The water supply had been in...
Friday, 26 August 2022
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is inviting people living in and around Lockerbie and Ecclefechan to give their views on the future management of two local woodlands. The management plans for both woodlands - Auchenroddan LMP (near Lockerbie and including Lockerbie House) and Brownmoor LMP (near Ecclefechan) – are due for a scheduled review and FLS is looking to explain some of the issues that...
Thursday, 25 August 2022
As it gears up to procure specialist peatland restoration for a new round of contracts, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is surveying forestry contractors to help it scope out the range and capacity of the sector. In order to best inform the FLS approach to the future procurement of these services, it is essential that FLS understand the size, scope, capacity, and future aspirations of the ...
Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Forestry and Land Scotland’s licensed September cull of female deer is to begin next week as part of its management of the deer population in order to protect Scotland’s national forests. Coming in the wake of the recent call from Biodiversity Minister, Lorna Slater, for a sustainable solution to Scotland’s deer problem, the September cull, makes use of existing intervention powers and is l...
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Visitor management has been an issue across much of the Highlands and Islands in recent years, fuelled in the last couple of years by lockdown regulations and the growth of staycations. While we welcome all visitors and encourage people to explore Scotland's national forests and land, we must ensure there are adequate facilities and infrastructure to cater for the increasing numbers of visitors, p...