This Glenbranter Land Management Plan is a new 10-year plan that covers an area of 3609 hectares around the village of Glenbranter, to the south of Strachur. It will replace the previous plan which fell out of approval in 2022.

The Glenbranter plan area has a long history of forestry, and was one of the Forestry Commission’s earliest acquisitions, from Sir Harry Lauder, in 1922. The area is composed of productive conifer plantation which has been expanded at various stages of its history, as well as ancient semi-natural woodland and areas of open ground habitat. The forest sustained extensive storm damage in 1968. In more recent times there have been confirmed infections in larch (Larix spp.) of Phytophthora ramorum disease. Extreme rainfall in October 2023 resulted in widespread damage to forest infrastructure including forest roads, paths and bridges.  

This new plan will look to maintain sawlog production in the forest for the future; enhance and expand the areas of native broadleaf woodland; and introduce greater resilience in the whole forest, through improved species, age and structural diversity, in the face of increasing threats of pests, diseases and extreme weather events.

In order to achieve this in some areas, we will have to construct new forest roads or access routes in two areas of the forest, which are shown on the accompanying maps; one by the A815 and one at the south end of Glenshellish. These are not expected to be required until the latter half of the plan so we are not formally consulting on these roads at the moment. Known features that may be affected by these roads or accesses include the main A815 trunk road, watercourses, Loch Eck SSSI and Drinking Water Protected Area, and various species present in and around the forest.

Location

 

Consultation

Consultation is an essential part of the planning process, helping us develop well-informed and effective plans. Engaging with stakeholders, including the local community, ensures that that all parties have an opportunity to feed into the plan development. We welcome your input and encourage you to share your thoughts to help shape our plans for the area.

We are currently seeking feedback on our draft plan concept.

Please get in touch using the contact details at the bottom of this page.

We will be running a public drop-in session (note that this event will be in conjunction with the consultation for the new Strathlachlan Land Management Plan) on 19 June from 2pm to 8pm at the Memorial Hall, Strachur.

Consultation on the draft plans will be open until 20 July 2025.

Timeline

• Project initiation - autumn 2024
• Scoping and development of draft concept - winter-spring 2025
• Public and stakeholder consultation - summer 2025
• Development of final plans - summer-autumn 2025
• Submission to Scottish Forestry (our sector's regulator) - autumn-winter 2025

Documents and maps

• Map 1: Key Features
• Map 1: Key Feature (Accessible Text)
• Map 2: Considerations
• Map 2: Considerations (Accessible Text)
• Map 3: Concept
• Map 3: Concept (Accessible Text)
• Maps 4-5: Planned Roads - A815
• Maps 4-5: Planned Roads - A815 (Accessible Text)