The Western Isles’ reputation for being a tree-free zone is being challenged by a native tree planting project that has planted over 171,000 trees over the past seven years.
The Croft Woodlands Western Isles Project has been planting species such as rowan, alder and birch on crofts across the islands to create shelter, wildlife habitat, landscape diversity, and improved soil.
Aided by Scottish Forestry Grants and Woodland Trust MOREwoods schemes, croft woodland advisors have been helping crofters with the planting process, including advice on ground preparation and how to maintain the trees as they grow.
The project – which is a partnership between Woodland Trust Scotland, Scottish Forestry, Scottish Crofting Federation, and Point and Sandwick Trust – has also extended to include two tree nurseries operating on Lewis: Stark’s Ark in Leurbost, and the Hebridean Tree Ark at Horshader.
Stark’s Ark, now in its 5th year, has been scaled up to grow 50,000 native tress from seed each year.
A recent two-day visit by Woodland Trust Scotland and Scottish Forestry, with transport supplied by Point and Sandwick Trust, allowed Croft Woodlands advisors Viv Halcrow and Robin Reid to show how the planting project is succeeding.
The tour included woodlands planted in Siadar and Ranish, as well as a trip to the nurseries.
Speaking of the visit, Neil Murray, Scottish Forestry Conservator for the Highland and Islands, said: “It was great to see small scale woodlands establishing in the challenging island conditions under the care of the crofters and the Croft Woodland Project.
“It was also a brilliant opportunity to visits tree nurseries on the island and speak to the knowledgeable and enthusiastic people there about the work they are doing to collect local seed and grow seedlings for further woodland creation projects in the future.
Scottish Forestry has a specific grant option for small scale island projects and we are very pleased to work closely with our partners to continue to build on the success of this project.”
DJ MacSween from Point and Sandwick Trust said it was exciting to see the growth plantings have made in recent years and to meet the crofters working with the trees.
“The work being done by the Croft Woodland Project will have a transformative effect on these islands,” he said.
Ms Halcrow added: “We’ve seen ourselves that trees will grow on Lewis, Harris, Barra, Benbecula and the Uists, very successfully, when the right species are planted in the right place.
“Our role in this project is to advise crofters on where and what to plant and guiding them through the process for available grants. Between myself and croft advisor Robin Reid, we’ve handled 750 enquiries regarding planting on crofts since 2016.
“Both nurseries are part of this exciting move towards protecting and restoring native woodland to the Western Isles and the crofters we are working with are seeing a 75-80 per cent tree establishment rate. This is beyond the expectations we had when the project began in 2016 and testament to the careful attention being given to the trees”.