Skye high grant for woodland creation

The project, which has been 18 months in development is being overseen by Scottish Woodlands Ltd, who will plant the scheme on behalf of the MacLeod estate by the end of 2021.

This native woodland creation scheme is the first phase of the MacLeod estate’s evolving rewilding strategy which Hugh MacLeod, estate director, has been working on for the last few years. It is one of the most ambitious projects of its kind on the Isle of Skye, with this first phase focusing on transforming the marginal land of Dunvegan’s former home farm, Totachocaire, into a 240ha native woodland area that will be treble the size of the existing contiguous woodlands around Dunvegan Castle & Gardens.

A total of 372,000 trees will be planted with different species mixtures to suit the land’s terrain and ecology. The carbon offset is estimated to exceed 40,000 tons over a 65-year period. This is in addition to the 60,000 native trees planted by the estate in 2010, to replace a monoculture coniferous plantation dating back to the post-war years, with further rewilding and peatbog restoration plans in development.

As one of the largest native woodland projects on the Isle of Skye, this will bring the total number of native trees planted on the MacLeod estate since 2010 to 432,000.  

“Politicians, communities and landowners across Britain are coming to the realisation that restoring the terribly depleted natural fabric of our landscapes offers a pathway for ecological, economic and social renewal,” said Ben Goldsmith, an environmentalist and CEO of Menhaden, a London-listed investment firm which focuses on energy and resource efficiency.

“We were pleased to be able to approve this important woodland creation scheme which will contribute to the Scottish Government’s tree planting targets,” added John Risby, Scottish Forestry’s Highland & Islands conservator added.