Wednesday, 25 October 2023
New riverbank woodlands are being planted across Scotland to help tackle rising temperatures due to climate change, restore habitats and reinstate healthy river systems that support some of Scotland's most iconic species including otter, osprey, and Atlantic salmon.
Foresters at Forestry and Land Scotland is now planting hundreds of hectares of new ‘riparian’ (riverside) woodlands, in all reg...
Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Winter visitors to Roseisle Forest will need to follow diversions that will take them around Forestry and Land Scotland thinning operations and help ensure their personal safety.
A series of rolling closures will be in place from 1 November until at least the end of January 2024 as the felling team makes its way through the forest and completes the work programme.
Niall Co...
Tuesday, 17 October 2023
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is looking to negotiate a 12-month contract extension with catering provider, Cobbs, to ensure that Glenmore visitor centre and café remain open as a community buy-out bid is assessed.
The move comes after it became clear that an asset transfer request to purchase the visitor centre and café by Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust (AGCT) could not be completed ...
Monday, 16 October 2023
Forestry and Land Scotland is advising walkers, cyclists and horse riders that from October ’23 until summer ’24 they will be diverted to the Low route on the Great Glen Way between Invermoriston and Allt Na Criche.
The High route is to close to allow for the safe felling of very large trees on the steep and difficult site at Sron na Muic.
Built in around 2015 as a de...
Friday, 13 October 2023
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon, today (Fri 13 Oct) welcomed the launch of Forestry and Land Scotland’s new Communities Strategy ahead of Community Land Week.
The Strategy will help to further empower communities and, by enabling them to have a greater role in creating their own future, will help to make best use of Scotland's national forest an...
Wednesday, 11 October 2023
Ecologists are beginning their autumn survey of voles in the Cairngorms Connect project area, which covers over 60,000 hectares of the national park and aims to restore its habitats, species and ecological processes.
Every spring and autumn, Forestry and Land Scotland collaborates with Cairngorms Connect Predator Project partners to carry out surveys to estimate the number of short-tailed field v...
Monday, 09 October 2023
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is advising people in areas badly affected by the weekend’s heavy rainfall to not risk using forest roads in an effort to bypass flooding.
FLS has warned that forest roads are also susceptible to damage from heavy rainfall, flooding and can be blocked by fallen trees where waterlogged soils has given way.
Carol McGinnes, FLS Central Region Manager, said;
“We...
Friday, 29 September 2023
This article featured in the October edition of the Timber Trades Journal
It is now well known that the rate of UK timber imports is not sustainable. In the context of the climate emergency, other countries’ timber needs and the need for increased stocks, the UK should aim towards reducing reliance on others.
While this is a challenge, it does represent an opportunity for the UK’...
Friday, 29 September 2023
Forestry and Land Scotland is advising hillwalkers and other visitors that its Glen Lochy Car Park will close for up to 12 weeks from 1st October 2023 to allow improvement works to be carried out.
The car park is frequently used by walkers accessing Ben Lui and Beinn a’ Chleibh because its proximity to the hills reduces the walk-in distance.
The works – to increase the car ...
Friday, 29 September 2023
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon, visited Glen Prosen this week (Thu 28 Sept) to learn first-hand how the site could become an exemplar for integrated land management in Scotland.
Acquired by Forestry and Land Scotland in 2022, Glen Prosen will be the focal point of a long-term plan that will include all of FLS’ land holdings in the area (including Gle...
Wednesday, 13 September 2023
A breeding pair of White-tailed Eagles has set up home in a Caithness woodland managed by Forestry and Land Scotland.
Thought to be the first successful breeding pair in the area in almost 100 years, the birds were found to be nesting in a stand of Sitka spruce within a windblown area of lodgepole pine that was due to be felled ahead of peatland restoration work.
It is thought that t...
Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has appointed a dive team to carry out a check of the Glencoe Lochan sluice gate ahead of a mandatory ten-year inspection next month.
The move comes ahead of an external consultant carrying out the formal inspection - as required under the Reservoirs (Scotland) Act 2011 - and aims to prevent a repeat of the mishap earlier this year, which saw the sluic...