December sees the start of a strategic Native Woodland development project, with work led by Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands and made possible thanks to funding from the Nature Restoration Fund. This will allow Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands to take a more strategic approach to partner with landowners across the region to develop native woodland creation plans, with consideration of wildlife corridors and nature networks.
The development project starts in December 2025 and runs for 12 months. Initial focus will be on mapping opportunities, using already established relationships and interrogation of mapping layers – using everything from soil type through to existing woodland inventories and local experience.
Once target areas have been identified, a series of contracts will be let to allow local engagement and woodland creation plans to be identified and drafted.
By November 2026, a region wide plan will be drafted, identifying areas of key benefit from woodland creation, with indications of their deliverability in future years.
McNabb Laurie, Manager of Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands, said:
“This support is perfectly timed. We are now two years old and have been working with landowners across the region on a range of native woodland creation projects. This has been delivering results, but mainly on a landowner-by-landowner basis.
Woodlands, like all natural habitats, do not perfectly match landowner boundaries and so native woodland creation discussions are best on a strategic, wildlife corridor or ‘nature network’ basis.
This project allows us to change focus from a case-by-case discussion to a more strategic approach, considering the wider benefits delivered by native woodland creation. Native woodland can be one of the best wildlife corridors, giving connections for species and habitats – reconnecting separated populations and building biodiversity resilience in the face of our changing climate.
We’ll be working in coming months to identify areas that would deliver the biggest benefit and working with landowners to see what they would be happy to accommodate in terms of wildlife corridor establishment.
We should end this 12-month period with a native woodland creation plan for future years, designed and costed and tested for actual deliverability.”
This work is taking place thanks to a ‘Transforming Nature – Development Phase’ grant from The Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot.
For more information about Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands, follow them on social media, visit the website www.dgwoodlands.org.uk or sign up for the newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/iAlL6k. Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands is registered in Scotland as a SCIO, number 052525.
Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands is a membership organisation. If you’d like to join as a member, visit the website. For any further info, please contact mcnabb.laurie@dgwoodlands.org.