Native woodland restoration in Caithness 2024
Our Project Delivery Team headed out to Dunnet Forest to volunteer a helping hand to Dunnet Community Forest Trust with the great work that they do.
Dunnet Forest is the most northerly community woodland on the British mainland and close to our Thurso Synchronous Condenser construction site.
The Forest is a plantation of non-native tree species, planted to replenish the country’s wood stock after the Second World War and the Forest Trust has the unenviable task of maintaining this 80+ Hectare woodland and its bridlepaths for the use of the local community, clearing the non-native tree species and replacing with native (and more sustainable & biodiverse) broadleaf species. All this, and they only have two part-time workers on their books, and hence why they very much rely on the support of volunteers.
The Trust had recently felled a large number of the colossal non-native trees, and needed help and brute force to shift the remnant collection of trunks and logs, and shred its massive, tangled pile of brash using a chipper and a few tubs of elbow grease. We all got stuck in working up a very good sweat and making a very sizeable dent in the pile whilst having a fantastic, enjoyable and rewarding afternoon in the Highlands sun.
