Wildlife charities Trees for Life and Woodland Trust Scotland have joined forces and are on a mission to find ‘lost’ Caledonian pinewoods.
The pinewoods are a unique ecosystem and only native to Scotland. They make up part of the country’s rare temperate rainforest and support a cacophony of cool wildlife like red squirrels, wood grouse and crossbills.
But how on Earth do you lose an entire woodland, you ask? Well, the Caledonian forest (as it’s sometimes also known) used to span the whole of the Highlands. Now just 2 percent is left and only 84 individual pinewoods are officially recognised, last documented over 25 years ago.
Apparently, they’re not that easy to find. Jane Sayers, wild pine project officer for Trees for Life, said: ‘Finding these pinewoods requires a lot of detective work. They are often small and remote, hidden in ravines safe from deer. Pines, or their remains, are often found scattered among birchwood too.’
Now charities have become aware of other wild pinewoods beyond those documented and, through looking at historical documents and anecdotal reports, believe that even more exist.
The charities plan to find the lost pine sites using historical evidence such as maps dating as far back as the 1500s. Once they think they’ve discovered a potential site, they’ll determine whether it is wild or planted, assess health and resilience, then present findings to landowners and managers so that forests get can get recognition and preservation status.
This isn’t the only campaign looking to save ‘lost’ ancient forests. Conservationists are also working to bring a forgotten British rainforest back to life. And in more rewilding news, the UK is in the midst of a full-blown beaver boom, a spectacular bird of prey was born in England for the first time in 240 years, rare red squirrels were born in Yorkshire and loads of ancient species were reintroduced to woods near London.
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