Skip to main content

Learnie Red Rocks car park expansion

Wednesday, 13 September 2023

Forestry and Land Scotland has started work to extend the car park at Learnie Red Rocks mountain bike trails. The addition of 25 extra spaces will help cater for the growing number of mountain bikers who visit to try out the mix of trails. Learnie offers a range of trails to suit all abilities and skill levels but is especially good for novice and intermediate riders. Carol MacKintosh, FLS’ A...

Pine marten experts gather in the Scottish Highlands 

Tuesday, 12 September 2023

The spectacular recovery of pine martens in Scotland is on the agenda for a gathering of pine marten experts in the Cairngorms.  Researchers from around the world will be attending the International Martes Symposium in Aviemore, and visiting local success stories in the Cairngorms.  The symposium happens every five years in a different country that is home to martens and their relative...

Ten-year plan comes to fruition 

Monday, 11 September 2023

Volunteers from West Fife Woodlands Group (WFWG) have worked with Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) to build a new footbridge at Muirside Woods, near Saline.   The bridge is a vital link to the wider area and offers access to the core path network and the National Cycle Network.   Installing a bridge was first suggested about 10 years ago but was not progressed because of fund...

Glenmore Centenary is history in miniature 

Friday, 08 September 2023

Minister for Energy and the Environment, Gillian Martin, today (Friday 8 Sept) joined foresters past and present to mark the centenary of Glenmore Forest Park being in public ownership.   Glenmore was purchased from the Duke of Gordon in 1923, only four years after the establishment of the Forestry Commission.   Since its entry into public forestry, Glenmore has experienced a...

Walk-and-talk to give insight into forest plans 

Wednesday, 06 September 2023

Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS) team in Dumfries and Galloway are inviting local people to come along to a walk-and-talk tour (28th September) of the Torrs Warren woodland that lies close to Dunragit village.  The walk is part of the consultation on FLS’ 10 year land management plan for the forest (that also includes the nearby Dunragit and Drochduil woodlands) and aims both to encour...

Foresters create habitat in bid to save rare bee

Wednesday, 06 September 2023

Forestry and Land Scotland staff in the Far North have been working to grow a wide range of wildflowers that should help boost numbers of a rare species of bumblebee and boost the fortunes of other pollinating insects.   The wildflowers, being tended by North Region staff in polytunnels in Lairg, will be planted out this autumn by volunteers from the Caithness Environment Volunteer Grou...

Wildfires never a flash-in-the-pan 

Friday, 25 August 2023

More than 12 weeks after the initial fire was put out, teams from Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) are still monitoring hotspots in Kerrow Forest, at Cannich.    The move comes after a fire crew from Fort Augustus attended the site last weekend (19/20 Aug) when one of of a number of hotspots flared up and reignited.  FLS staff later revisited the forest to review the situation on ...

Consultation open on Little Clyde woodlands

Friday, 25 August 2023

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is seeking local community feedback on its 10-year Land Management Plan for the Little Clyde woodland.   Due SW of Abington and near the villages of Elvanfoot and Crawford, Little Clyde is a commercial forest, with the upper reaches of the site being part of the Clyde Wind Farm, managed by SSE.  As well as setting out what FLS intends to do over th...

Post-UCI Glentress focus shifts to inclusivity

Friday, 18 August 2023

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is getting ready to complete the final stage of its Glentress Masterplan programme as the UCI team clears the last of the 2023 Cycling World Championship infrastructure.   It is anticipated that the carparks will re-open and access will begin to return to normal from 18 August, this will coincide with FLS starting work on the final stage of its £6 milli...

Fungi foragers urged to pick only what they need as some Scottish forests are ‘stripped bare’

Friday, 18 August 2023

People planning to head out to forests this autumn to try their hand at ‘foraging’ – to pick wild mushrooms – are being urged to ‘be sure what you’re picking and pick only what you need’. The call comes from Scotland’s national forestry body, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), who are finding – increasingly – that inexperienced fungi foragers are clearing whole areas, damaging ...

New Blue Trail for Laggan Wolftrax bridges a trail gap

Thursday, 17 August 2023

Work has begun this past week on the build of a new, blue grade mountain bike route at Laggan Wolftrax.   The new route is designed to appeal to and encourage less experienced and younger riders to engage with the sport and will be a welcome addition to what is currently on offer.   The project, with significant grant funding from sportscotland - is being led by The Laggan Fo...

Shared public private deer larder helps reduce deer impacts at landscape scale

Wednesday, 16 August 2023

A private estate near Thurso has become the first ever in Scotland to enter in to a deer larder sharing agreement with Forestry and land Scotland (FLS), in a move designed to encourage collaboration in managing deer. The shared deer larder helps both partners as they are managing the same deer population: it facilitates access for the estate to a deer larder to produce Scottish Quality Wild Assur...