National Park boost for farm

A Brig o’ Turk farming couple welcomed a VIP visitor last week thanks to a National Park cash boost.

The Scottish Government’s Minister for Rural Affairs and Natural Environment, Mairi Gougeon, called in at the couple’s farm to inspect new trees planted with grant funding.

Nicola Hornsby and Crispin Hoult received support from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority.

It is hoped the six native species planted at Achray Farm as a result of their funding project, will help reduce flood risks as well as protecting vegetation and livestock.

Nicola said: “We hope the trees we’ve planted with the National Park grant funding will help stabilise the riverbank, contribute to a reduced risk of flooding in the area and provide a natural windbreak for our young fruit trees. They will also help make the farm more attractive to wildlife as well as visitors who travel down the Three Lochs Forest Drive or who pass through the farm on the Great Trossachs Path.”

The Tree Planting Grant Scheme offers small-scale funding to organisations including community groups and individuals, to plant trees or areas of woodland within the park area.

Ms Gougeon’s visit came as part of a bid to launch the park authority’s new Trees and Woodland Strategy, drafted in conjunction with Scottish Forestry.

It aims to highlight the value of the terrain to the park and outlines plans to protect and enhance it over the next two decades.

She said: “The woodlands of the National Park are some of our most important natural assets. They have a vital role to play in supporting our national response to the global climate emergency while also contributing to a thriving rural economy.

“Trees and woodlands are also integral to delivering social and economic benefits to the area including employment, community involvement in woodland management, and the simple enjoyment of local residents and visitors to the National Park. We need to protect and enhance this precious resource for future generations and this strategy sets out the approach to do just that.”

The document also pledges to preserve rare temperate rainforest territory and the most southerly remnants of the country’s ancient Caledonian pine forests.

Trees and woodland - a quarter of which are native - cover 31 per cent of the park’s terrain.

A key aim of the new plan is to increase the presence of native woodland.

Proposals for better management of existing trees, biodiversity support measures and promotion of links between nature, the economy and the health and wellbeing of those visiting, living or working in the National Park, are also outlined.

Simon Jones, director of conservation and visitor operations at Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, said: “Our trees and woodlands provide such a huge range of benefits not just locally but for the whole of Scotland, and particularly in the efforts to tackle the global climate emergency and biodiversity crisis.

“Looking after our existing trees and creating new, well planned woodland will help capture more carbon and could support natural flood management. It will also increase the biodiversity of our rare Atlantic rainforests and other habitats and protect species such as black grouse and red squirrels.”

Scottish Forestry have had a hand in drafting the blueprint as part of the collaboration and provision has also been made for a ten per cent boost for new woodlands from the Forestry Grant Scheme.

The new document will also guide local rollout of the new national Scotland’s Forestry Strategy 2019-20.

To find out more about the Trees and Woodland Strategy go to www.lochlomondtrossachs.org/treesandwoodlands.