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To receive the complete copy of our newsletters, please Join Trees for Life as a Member – with your support we will also be more effective in our work to restore the Caledonian Forest. Ten years of regeneration at Coille RuighAs I write this, it's just a month until the 10th anniversary of Trees for Life's first substantial accomplishment - the fencing of 50 hectares of Forest Enterprise land at Coille Ruigh na Cuileige in Glen Affric. It was on 14 September 1990 that David Bellamy officially 'closed the gate' on that exclosure, thereby enabling the estimated 100,000 Scots pine seedlings within it to begin regenerating successfully, and gaining us considerable media coverage in the process. The completion of the fence was, after several years of research, fundraising and contacting landowners, a major milestone towards our goal of helping to restore the Caledonian Forest on a large scale around Glen Affric. I recently spent a day at Coille Ruigh, taking photographs for the special feature in this newsletter, and I was inspired (again!) to see the extent and scale of the tree regeneration which is taking place there. Pine, birch, rowan and juniper are all growing well, and our champion Scots pine now towers more than two metres above my head. A young forest is well-established, and new life has returned to Coille Ruigh for the first time in over 150 years. That success, and our other practical accomplishments, is due to the wonderful support we've received over the years from you and all our members, and to the hard work of our dedicated staff and volunteers. The regeneration at Coille Ruigh is also one of the achievements which has led to Trees for Life receiving the Millennium Marque Award this year- details of this are on page 5 inside. In the ten years that those young trees have been growing at Coille Ruigh there's also been a parallel growth occurring in public awareness and concern about the Caledonian Forest, and action for its return. This has led to a plethora of regeneration projects, and the need for more native forest in the Highlands is now widely accepted. With a new generation of trees growing at Coille Ruigh, throughout Glen Affric, and elsewhere, our work is increasingly focussing on a deepening and expansion of the restoration process to include other parts of the forest community - for example, the habitat for species such as the beaver and the aspen hoverfly. Our initial actions of helping the forest to regenerate have, in themselves, generated ideas for moving our work forward to its next substantial phase. Thus, when I look at the regeneration in Coille Ruigh now, I see not just healthy young trees, but ten years' growth of a vision - a bold and daring vision for the return of a wild, expansive forest - a vision which is coming ever closer to realisation. Alan Watson Featherstone Pages about Coille Ruigh on this site
Dwarf Birch Survey
In the summer of 1999, and again this summer, I've had the good fortune to be involved with the Trees for Life survey of dwarf birch (Betula nana), which involved many of my favourite pastimes; camping, walking, looking at plants and gawping at hills, all with good company. Ecological ProfileDwarf birch is a dwarf shrub relative of downy and silver birch. It is an important dominant component of vegetation communities in boreal and Arctic regions and can be found at high altitude as far south as the Alps and the Carpathian Mountains. Fossil remains of dwarf birch are abundant in glacial and early post-glacial deposits throughout Britain and Ireland. As the climate became warmer and wetter after the end of the last Ice Age, it became restricted to high altitudes, and further range and growth restrictions are due to pressures from burning, grazing and afforestation of peatlands. The plant we know in Britain as dwarf birch is therefore much smaller and of generally prostrate growth compared to the erect bushy shrub of up to 1 metre in height which is found in Scandinavia and Iceland. Why protect dwarf birch?Because of the high grazing pressure in Scotland, there are no known populations where dwarf birch is able to grow naturally. It is therefore of great scientific and intrinsic value to protect dwarf birch in order to see what it would naturally look and behave like in Britain. Protection will also help to increase the genetic diversity of previously isolated populations and thereby increase theirchances of withstanding future pressures such as climatic change and the deposition of acids and nitrates from atmospheric pollution. The restoration of the natural scrub habitat to the uplands of Scotland would also help to enhance species diversity: as the scrub species and their associated plant, fungi and invertebrate species spread, they will provide birds and small mammals with both shelter and food on the high exposed ground. Although large fences would afford the greatest protection, small fences are cheaper and of less interference with deer movement throughout their range. ActionLast year Trees for Life obtained the consent of the respective landowners to survey an area covering 20 square kilometres on parts of the Hilton, Wester Guisachan, Ceannacroc and Balnacarn Estates. The purpose of this was to enable us to compile a density distribution map for dwarf birch, which in turn would allow us to prioritise areas for protection. The area selected lies between the existing exclosure of 20 hectares on Balnacarn estate, and the 31 small stock fences of 2-12 square metres each on Wester Guisachan estate, all of which were erected for the regeneration of dwarf birch in 1997. We hoped that this land in between known populations would also support dwarf birch, and that any further protection measures would provide links between the existing exclosures. ResultsOne of our hopes was to obtain an ecological profile for dwarf birch, which would identify the habitat where it is most likely to be found and/or other species commonly associated with it. However, it was not to be so easy. Dwarf birch was found in all the dominant vegetation types, but we did see a pattern forming with regard to its habitat. Most dwarf birch was found on high wet flushes, particularly on Cam a' Caochain (Chattering Hill, due to its many streams), on both north and south facing slopes. The growth forms ranged from small and upright to long and trailing, often amongst deep peat hags. Hilton: We had a successful site visit in February with representatives from Scottish Natural Heritage and the agents for Hilton estate. It was agreed to extend the fence line for the proposed Woodland Grant Scheme (for an area of planted native trees) to incorporate patches of dwarf birch at the outer edges, thereby protecting them from grazing. Wester Guisachan: The landowner has agreed to our proposal to enlarge the existing 31 stock fences to provide greater protection and enhance the vegetative spread of the enclosed dwarf birch. Ceannacroc: Fencing proposals were suggested to the landowner who is discussing the plans with neighbouring stalkers. Balnacarn: We've already erected a 70 hectare fence for woodland restoration and a 20 hectare fence for dwarf birch protection on this small estate, so the owner was understandably reluctant to plan for more fences. However, he is keen and supportive of a monitoring project to obtain more information on the growth and reproduction of this little understood plant. All the estates agreed to a monitoring programme which will allow us to study the following factors: preferred soil type(s); comparison of growth rates with and without protection from grazing; vegetative spread and seeding ability in different vegetation types and on 'screefed' ground (where the surface vegetation is removed); and seed viability. This programme will provide valuable information which will enable us to produce more informed plans for future protection and enhancement of dwarf birch populations both within this survey area, as well as in other parts of Scotland. Current updateThe survey process has benefited from the recent purchase of a hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) unit. The use of this equipment has become a viable option for us following the US military's lifting of their selective availability limitation to the satellite signals at the beginning of May which increased the unit's accuracy in pinpointing locations from 100 metres previously to within 15 metres now. This year the dwarf birch survey has been extended on the Hilton estate and also expanded on to the Dundreggan estate to the south, in Glen Moriston. This new area totals an additional 12 square kilometres, and Diana Holt and I have been busy carrying out the survey this summer. The results from this work, as well as those from last year, should enable Trees for Life to plan a comprehensive programme of regeneration and restoration measures for dwarf birch in this large area between Glen Affric and Glen Moriston. Anne Matthews For further information about dwarf birch, please go to our Dwarf Birch Information Resource. See Caledonia Wild! Newsletters, for excerpts from other editions.
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If you have found the information on this page and/or website useful please consider making a donation, for example to our current appeal and/or becoming a member of Trees for Life, to help us further our work of restoring the Caledonian Forest. You can join or make a donation on-line via our secure server if you like, or contact Trees for Life by post, phone or email at the address below. Published: Summer 2000 | |||||||||
