University embarks on rewilding journey with community charity

A pioneering partnership has been forged between a university and a community landowner to restore native woodland bordering ancient Celtic rainforest in the Highlands.

The partnership between the University of Edinburgh and Kinloch Woodlands is thought to be the first of its kind in Scotland where an educational institute is delivering natural capital benefits – the social and economic benefits that come from nature – to a community landowner.

Kinloch Woodlands is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), run by a board of trustees comprising of locals and land management experts. The charity conserves land at Kinloch estate, known for some of Scotland’s most iconic vistas, including views over Loch Torridon and towards the islands of Rona and Skye.

Kinloch Woodlands is a partner in the Northwoods Rewilding Network operated by the rewilding charity, SCOTLAND: The Big Picture. The network brings together over 80 landholdings across Scotland, all committed to the expansion and enrichment of natural habitats.

Brokered by SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, the partnership aims to extend native woodlands planted in the 1990s through both natural regeneration and some limited new tree planting.

With only 2.5% of the UK now covered in ancient woodland, rewilding using native flora will help transform the land into the precious ecosystem it once was.

Importantly, it is hoped that rebuilding these natural habitats will increase native wildlife populations, including red squirrels which were reintroduced to the area in 2016.

A part of the University’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2040, the rewilding effort will also help combat climate change through carbon sequestration and storage.

Working with a range of partners and landowners, the University will capture and store carbon from the atmosphere by planting more than two million trees, restoring peatland and regenerating approximately 5,600 hectares of land – of which 4,800 hectares is owned by partners across Scotland.

Community support is a key part of the agreement. Kinloch Woodland will receive financing over the course of the project to help with costs associated with the running of Kinloch estate and to reinvest into the Shieldaig community.

The agreement also ensures that a proportional financial benefit goes to SCOTLAND: The Big Picture’s Rewilding Fund to support nature recovery efforts at Northwoods partner sites.

There will be educational opportunities throughout the project, with plans to involve Shieldaig Primary School in various projects.

Rewilding efforts and habitat management will also create a living laboratory for long-term environmental monitoring, academic research and hands-on learning, organisers say.

Dave Gorman, Director of Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the University of Edinburgh said: “We are really excited to be working with Kinloch Woodlands and SCOTLAND: The Big Picture on this rewilding project. Investing in restoration projects such as this supports our critical ecosystems and by partnering with a community landowner, we are broadening the impact of our work to create real, long-lasting benefits for our communities.”

"Richard Munday, Convenor of the Kinloch Woodlands SCIO, said "The community has owned the land at Kinloch since 2001, and working together, we have made significant progress in helping the native woodland recover and develop into a valuable local amenity. The partnership with the University of Edinburgh allows us to advance to the next level, securing the long-term future of the woodlands for the Shieldaig community and the wider public, and creating new research opportunities whose benefit will be felt across Scotland."

James Nairne, Northwoods Rewilding Network Lead at SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, said "We are delighted to have brought together, for their mutual benefit, a leading Scottish educational institution focused on sustainability and a local group that is an exemplar of community-based native woodland recovery. Creating more native woodland and driving community benefit are principles that are central to the Northwoods Rewilding Network's mission."

For further details about the University of Edinburgh’s forest and peatland project, please visit: https://sustainability.ed.ac.uk/operations/forest-peatland

This is a University of Edinburgh press release.