Borders Forest Trust Reach Milestone in "Reviving the Wild Heart of Southern Scotland"

Nearly two million trees have been planted since the Borders Forest Trust was set up in the south of Scotland 25 years ago. It is a charity established with the aim to restore native woodland habitats to Southern Scotland. They are justifiably proud of their success which they would like to present as an example to other parts of Scotland. Their work demonstrates large scale ecological restoration in action and by doing so encourage others to embrace this alternative model for land use and conservation. The Borders Forest Trust's - Reviving the Wild Heart of Southern Scotland can be read about on their webpage.

One of their achievements has been to transform one bare valley into a wooden glen. Native woodland has been planted, with about around 750,000 trees at Carrifran Wildwood near Moffat (Scottish Gaelic: Mofad). They want to create a healthy landscape and ecosystem, working with nature to reach a point where it will be able to regenerate on its own. Borders Forest Trust do not claim to be the first or only organisation to engage in rewilding projects in Scotland. However, see themselves as part of a growing movement which now has more momentum behind such rewilding projects than there was when they were established 25 years ago

Image above: Carrifran now after tree planting - Reviving the Wild heart of Southern Scotland image courtesy Borders Forest Trust.

Image below: Carrifran in 2004 before tree planting initiative image courtesy Borders Forest Trust.