Regeneration of woodland in Dunnet Community Forest to nurture and sustain this popular spot for its many visitors and to increase the biodiversity for the many species which call it home.
Estimated Price
£49,999
Dunnet Community Forest is a square kilometre of mature woodland situated in the Dunnet Links SSSI, near Dunnet village and on the North Coast 500 tourist route. With 17km of footpaths and home to a number of rare species, Dunnet Community Forest has long been a popular spot for both residents and visitors to the area.
Dunnet Forestry Trust, who manage the forest on behalf of the community, has embarked on a long term (20 year) plan to regenerate areas of Dunnet Community Forest from its original state as a commercial conifer plantation into mixed species recreational woodland. This project covers our goals for the start of the next phase of our long term plan. What we want to do is:
Fell approximately 5 hectares of conifer trees, clear the ground and replant with broadleaf species (about 8000 trees to be planted).
Create habitats for the rare/priority species that live in the forest, specifically the small blue butterfly, great yellow bumblebee and Scottish primrose. Creating habitats means looking after the meadow areas and glades in the forest correctly, planting a mix of pollinating tree, shrub and flower species and preparing areas of ground in ways that suit the species we want to encourage.
Maintain and improve the 17km of pathways in the forest so people can easily access the forest and enjoy their time in it.
This project is important to our community as mature, accessible mixed woodland is rare in Caithness. Dunnet Community Forest gives people of all abilities the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and a natural environment.
Our work in Dunnet Community Forest will preserve and enhance a much-loved and much-visited place. It will increase the biodiversity in the forest, strengthening its resilience to environmental threats. Our project fits well with the Caithness Area Place Plan in delivering recreational and health and well-being benefits and providing a tourist attraction.
Community engagement for our project springs from the community-led buy-out of Dunnet Forest in 2020 when a public engagement exercise was carried out. Since then, the Trust have developed a long term forest plan which has been approved by Forestry Scotland, so all the required permissions for our project are in place.
The first five years of our long term forest plan (2020-2025) demonstrated our capability to successfully manage a project like this. We have developed a business plan and budget for the coming three year period which includes this project and we have sourced and costed the equipment we will need to purchase. We have funding applications to support elements of this project submitted to the Scottish government forestry grant scheme and a number of other charitable funds either applied to or identified for applying.
The anticipated start date is mid-2026, with completion estimated in two years.
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