We are at the ‘Big Wood’, or that’s what the Ordnance Survey map says if you know your Scottish Gaelic as it reads ‘Doire Mhòr’ (‘Doire’ meaning clump of trees or grove and ‘Mhòr’ meaning big or large). But apart from a tiny amount of suppressed natural regeneration and a handful of mature specimens clinging on to a inaccessible rocky crag you’ll struggle to find many trees at all in this glen, certainly not what the Gaelic translation would have you believe. But it is a vitally important observation because these Gaelic ‘names’ are actually descriptions from the past and the ones that include tree names are a massive clue to what would have, and still should be, here - trees!

So where are we and what are my colleagues and I doing here? We are in Glen Affric and more specifically the site of the next phase of woodland restoration that I am hoping to deliver in this area. Using contractors, I erected new sections of deer fence (a necessary evil) in 2022 connecting existing enclosures and massively reducing deer grazing pressure across approximately a thousand hectares.

Within this area we have approval in the most recent Land Management Plan (LMP) for up to 250 hectares of ground preparation (cultivation) and planting of native woodland. Now just because a general area is approved it doesn’t mean we are going to stick a tree in every corner of it like we did with non-native commercial timber plantations in the past, it is important that we are considerate of the environment we are working in. Today we are looking in more detail at the ground conditions, soil types, existing vegetation and potential access for machinery and the contract planters when the time comes. All of this information feeds into our operational plan for the project and results in trees being planted in the most suitable areas and ensures we protect unsuitable areas (i.e., deep peat) from disturbance.

Even though I am the Forester for Glen Affric it is not solely my decision to go ahead with a project like this, especially one on this scale and with such a significant change to the environment. I can certainly play my part in using my expertise and local knowledge to flag up such a project but this kind of work must go through a rigorous and in depth planning process before it is approved.

What is that planning process?

I work for Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) (formerly Forestry Commission Scotland) which is a public body responsbile for managing the National Forest Estate (NFE) across Scotland. Within Forestry Land Scotland, all the work we carry out is approved in long term forest plans, now known as Land Management Plans (LMP) to reflect the fact that we manage much more than just the forest.

The LMPs are broken down into geographical management units which usually encompass one or more related forest blocks. In this case Glen Affric, Glen Cannich, Cougie, Guisachan and Kerrow all come under the ‘Glen Affric LMP’. The LMP covers all aspects of land management from standard forestry (harvesting and restocking) through to environment and recreation work and even renewables projects. An LMP is a hefty piece of work and is overseen by the planning team whilst all the different functions and teams across FLS feed into the internal consultation process.

For our woodland restoration site at Doire Mhòr that means soil surveys, hydrological surveys, vegetation surveys, discussions with the wildlife management team and much more which is then fed back into the larger plan. Once the proposed LMP is complete is it submitted to Scottish Forestry (SF) who are the regulatory body for all forestry in the Scotland. They assess the suitability of the plan but also put it out to public consultation whereby the general public, neighbouring landowners or any interested stakeholders can submit their feedback.

Once approved the LMP lasts for 10 years with a review at year 5. All current active plans and those out for consultation can be found HERE. So anyone is able to access all the information and maps that the plan is based on at any time.

Back to our site at Doire Mhòr. As mentioned previously the work here is already in an approved LMP but now we are looking at the finer details ahead of operational delivery. Hopefully I’ve given you some insight into just how much work is carried out before a tree is even put into the ground on a site like this.

It was a classic Highland summer day with changeable weather. Drizzly showers giving way to glimpses of sunshine. We made our way to the highest point on the site - Beinn a’ Mheadhoin (613 metres / 2011 feet). We won’t be planting up here but it does give us a good overview of the area and its always interesting to see what has managed to survive in these rocky and inaccessible nooks and crannies in terms of vegetation. We found many species which are missing from much our landscape due to overgrazing that should be very common including - Dwarf Cornel (Cornus suecica), Bog Blaeberry (Vaccinium uliginosum) and Mountain Bearberry (Arctous alpina).

And finally you may be thinking why go to so much effort and expense to prepare the ground and plant instead of leaving it to natural processes, especially now its protected by a fence? Well, we are dealing with a large area here with almost no natural seed source available to produce trees naturally. Most of the seed source available is to the East of the site so seed will not be carried in by the prevailing wind which comes from the South West in the UK. So with this in mind we have taken the decision to plant trees which will create a natural and robust seed source for the future and the remainder of the area. Although visible change can be relatively quick in these types of projects, even if we planted today we are still talking at least 250 years before we see anything close to the mature and ecologically complex forests that would have existed here in the past. As Foresters and conservationists these are often the timescales we have to consider when restoring native woodland habitats.

I will talk more about the details of the planting scheme in terms of species, spacing, logistics in a future blog.

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