The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Estate and farm recognised at Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards
Tullo Farm at Oldmeldrum and Invercauld Estate in Braemar are among the winners of Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards.
Invercauld Estate won the new native woods award for Craig Leek and Meall Gorm for securing the long-term future of Caledonian pine woods on the estate.
Forest manager Ian Hill said: “I think we won because we had the vision to begin with and then the resilience to take it forward to what we have achieved today.
“It’s been an arduous journey but well worth it in the end.
Meanwhile, the judges of the new farm woodland award described John Strachan’s Tullo Farm at Oldmeldrum as “a near-perfect example of an arable farm woodland integration project”.
They added that it had enhanced the diversity of business opportunities in the future while dramatically enhancing the environment.
Mr Strachan’s niece, Amanda, collected the award on his behalf and said he was very happy to have the success of his project recognised.
The awards programme honours the contributions made by woodland to people, the environment and the economy, and prizes were presented by rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing.
He said: “New figures have shown that Scotland is responsible for almost 80% of new forest and woodland creation in the UK.
“This is testament to the value and importance of our £1 billion forestry and timber industry and the economic, environmental and social contribution it makes.
“Behind all this success are talented and passionate people whose dedication creates woodland resources for our communities, woodland habitats for our wildlife and woodland resources for our forest industries.”
Angela Douglas, executive director of Scotland’s Finest Woods, said: “This has been an outstanding year, with a very high quality and wide variety of entries.
“The addition of the farm woodland award has been a tremendous success, with a superb set of entries reflected in a winner, plus a highly commended and a commended entry.”