driving reforestation at Alladale Wilderness Reserve
Alladale Wilderness Reserve, deep in the Scottish Highlands, is home to pockets of original, old-growth forest. The European Nature Trust, in collaboration with the Scottish Rural Development Programme, is promoting their regeneration and replanting vast tracts of deforested land.
Since 2009, nearly one million native tree species have been replanted at Alladale, from locally-reared native species including Scot’s pine, rowan, alder, birch, willow and aspen. In partnership with ecologists, we are promoting the natural regeneration of remaining old-growth forest, while controlling deer numbers to allow newly planted saplings to reach reproductive age. Replanted trees will, in time, provide the seed bank for wider natural regeneration, allowing wildlife to thrive.