This project is a collaboration between three well-networked and experienced land managers and researchers: JLB Consulting (Dr Jessica Lynch Boucher), Wilder Williams Regeneration (Richard Williams), and the UHI Centre for Mountain Studies (Mike Daniels). They will address the following questions: What are the costs, benefits, and trade-offs of deer fencing compared with alternative deer management […]
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Native woodland creation projects frequently experience high levels of sapling mortality across both coniferous and broadleaf species. Progress towards afforestation targets, and the ecological and societal benefits they underpin, relies on the successful establishment of young woodlands. Consequently, identifying management strategies that improve early survival and growth of native tree species is a key priority. […]
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The Common Ground Forum (CGF) is a cross-section of individuals and organisations connected to upland deer management in Scotland, who practise a more collaborative approach to deer management, based on mutual respect and consensus building, to move towards a greener, healthier and economically vibrant future. Formed in 2023, the CGF plays a unique role by […]
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This project will build and evidence a local “wilder grazing” service focused on recovering ghost woodlands and Atlantic rainforest fragments at Ardtornish Estate and partner land in southeast Morvern. Ghost woodlands are ancient woodland remnants where regeneration has been heavily suppressed by historic herbivory, yet recover rapidly when browsing pressure is reduced and natural disturbance […]
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This project will develop and test peat-free growing media made from Scottish agricultural and forestry by-products processed through vermiculture. The aim is to create high-performance substrates for commercial tree nurseries that reduce reliance on imported coir, lower carbon impacts and support sustainable woodland creation. Materials including hemp shiv, broom and nursery residues will be converted […]
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Carrifran is a 650ha glen in the Southern Uplands, with an altitudinal range of 160m – 820m, managed by Borders Forest Trust (BFT). In 2000, work began to restore the glen’s woodlands, and 750,000 trees were planted, while grazing was reduced by stock fencing and managing deer numbers. The ongoing results of this restoration work […]
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This project will trial a novel, low-cost method for establishing native woodland directly from seed in grazed farmland or croft land — without fencing — by rapidly creating a protective thorny scrub layer as the first stage of succession. The potential innovation would lie in establishing this thorny “nurse” layer quickly from seed, with a […]
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E3 R&D have received funding previously, for a long-term high pruning and monitoring project on a 70 acre site, transforming the plantation woodland into a more biodiverse site. A large part of E3 R&D’s work is to monitor the effects of their changes on biodiversity, particularly bats. For this project E3 R&D will be looking […]
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In 2023, the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust (IGHT) undertook a two year project to begin control of 20 hectares of INNS that would improve woodland structure, increase diversity and natural regeneration opportunity, as well as improve woodland sites that contain pathways for their community and visitors. Whilst successful in kick-starting landscape scale control of […]
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Britain’s ambitious tree planting targets intersect with the expanding distribution of the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber), a key ecosystem engineer of riparian woodlands. This overlap, coupled with the lack of guidance in woodland creation literature, has raised important questions about the potential impacts of beavers on riparian woodland creation schemes. To avoid jeopardising either woodland […]
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