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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...

Looking to start a land-based career - FLS is the place to go

Tuesday, 15 August 2023

Forestry and Land Scotland is encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to take a look at the opportunities it can offer through its rolling nationwide recruitment drive.   The call comes as part of a push to address a national skills and labour shortage in the forestry and land based careers sector.  FLS regularly advertises new roles and recently welcomed 49 new colleagues ...

Forest safety works to impact A96 

Monday, 07 August 2023

Aberdeenshire road users are advised that major forestry works at Tyrebagger Forest, near Dyce, will see traffic management in place on the A96 and the B979 from 15th August.   Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) in partnership with road network managers, AMEY, will clear wind-blown and unstable standing trees along the frontage of one of the regions’ worst storm-hit forests.  ...

Glenmore peatland project puts restoration on show  

Wednesday, 02 August 2023

Forestry and Land Scotland has begun (27 July 2023) restoring 60ha of peatland at the Cairngorm Mountain Resort in Glenmore that will help put the vital mitigation work in the public eye.    Situated adjacent to the resort’s  top car park and with public paths all around, the visitors to the centre will be able to watch some of the operation’s progress and see fo...

UKs biggest orienteering event returns to North East 

Friday, 28 July 2023

Forests in Moray will be a hive of activity at the end of July as Forestry and Land Scotland once again plays host to the Scottish Orienteering 6-Days Event.   Featuring five events between Monday 31 July and Friday 4 Aug, four of the five competition routes will be in FLS-managed Lossie, Roseisle and Culbin Forests.  The bi-annual event (which last visited Moray in 2013) is the l...

Pine marten numbers on the increase in Galloway as technology trials yield positive results 

Monday, 24 July 2023

Trials of a new technique that uses thermal imaging cameras to capture the occupancy of over 100 artificial den boxes in Galloway Forest, have yielded positive results.  This spring, checks by a Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) team on the artificial nesting boxes to assess the local pine marten population, detected a number of baby pine martens (called kits) using the technique.  ...

Views sought on ten-year plan for Yair Forest

Friday, 21 July 2023

Forestry and Land Scotland is inviting residents living in communities in the Selkirk and Galashiels area to offer comment on proposals for the future management of Yair Forest. The Yair Land Management Plan (LMP) defines the management prescription for the next ten years (2023-32), and presents the vision for the long-term management of the area.   The main management object...