A selection of articles from newsletters, the journal, and project related.
A few weeks ago 30 folk gathered for a weekend in the woods for the first Scottish Coppice Gathering, sharing experiences & skills around the fire in the far NW highlands. The gathering was organised to kickstart the newly formed … Read More
Contact with nature has lots of benefits for both physical and mental health, so wouldn’t it be good if you could go to your doctor, and instead of (or as well as) giving you a bottle of pills, they could … Read More
Across much of Europe, weekends and holidays see thousands of families head out to their hytte, hydda, cabaña or dacha – in other words, their hut – to recharge their batteries and spend time in nature without the distractions of … Read More
“Perspective is the Temple of Decision” – inscription in Falkland Palace No grander – nor, in some ways, more unseemly – could have been this year’s setting for Reforesting Scotland’s Blue Skies weekend retreat but Falkland Palace. I decided to … Read More
In this discussion paper, published by Reforesting Scotland, Jim Knight argues for a creative blurring of the boundaries between ‘production’ and ‘natural’ forest, with a greater emphasis on natural regeneration in both. Jim is a founding trustee of the Borders … Read More
Over the last few weeks, hill walkers have encountered dead deer lying scattered over many of Scotland’s hills. While some may have been shot to put them out of their misery, most will have starved to death – the combination … Read More
Rewilding may be a hot topic but, says Alan Carter, the legal framework for reintroductions needs to be improved. This year, Denmark got its first wild wolf pack for over 200 years. It wasn’t part of any government programme. No … Read More
From Reforesting Scotland Journal 56: Wild Again (autumn 2017 issue) At first glance, ‘rewilding the city’ might sound like a contradiction. To some people, the wild is defined by the absence of interfering humans. How can wildness exist in that … Read More
If there was ever an animal that showed the changes that cascade through the web of ecological relationships when you add or remove one of its members, it is the pine marten (Martes martes). This native woodlander was once removed … Read More
Alan Carter asks, could Brexit be an opportunity to craft a sane economic vision for our uplands? In 2011, consultants from the Scottish Agricultural College began a study into the comparative economics of commercial forestry and hill sheep farming in … Read More