Old growth forests
Working hard to maintain and develop the character and quality of Scotland’s landscapes.
Whilst, in truth, the great Caledonian Pine Forests have been eroded – by man – over the course of the last 1000 years, it is also the case that not much more than two hundred years ago, considerable parts of the Highlands were still covered with significant expanses of pine, alder, birch and juniper and a whole ecosystem of plants and wildlife that thrived in its shelter. Our goal, today, is to protect and regenerate those few remaining pockets of magnificent old growth forest and create the conditions necessary for these trees to reassert themselves across the landscape. Since 2014 Wildland has planted 4,000,000 tree saplings across its holdings within the Cairngorm region. This is in addition to the many millions of totally natural regenerated Caledonian Pine Woods within the core 2000 ha area of Ancient Caledonian.
Every estate within the greater Wildland holding has some remnant past of Scotland’s old growth forest – great and small. Yet in the ecological timescale, it’s only 200 years before Wildland’s new growth today becomes old growth once more and the accompanying ecosystems and diverse wildlife thrive anew. Wildland is a major supporter of the Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC). This project has been working for over ten years to protect Romania’s remaining old growth forests. The forest still covering much of the Carpathian mountains provides a fascinating glimpse of what the Scottish Highlands could become again. The devastation of the Great Caledonian Pine Forest provides Romania with a stark warning of what results from unregulated logging. FCC’s vision is to create Europe’s largest forest National Park and protect these spectacular landscapes for future generations.