Trees for Life - 20 years of regeneration at Coille Ruigh

Alan beside a Scots pine seedling in Coille Ruigh in 1992, two years after the fence was put up. Before the fence was erected, this seedling was kept at the height of the blaeberries beside it, with all vertical growth suppressed, due to the pressure of overgrazing.

The same tree in May 2000, showing how much it had grown after 10 years of protection – by this time it was known as the ‘Champion pine’. That year, it produced its first cones and seeds, from flowers that were pollinated in 1998.

By August 2010, the tree was 7.13 metres (23.4 feet) tall. A few pine sawflies (Diprion pini) were observed on the tree, indicating that it is supporting a range of wildlife, and it is producing cones regularly now.

These dead pines in the centre of the Coille Ruigh exclosure, photographed here in 1990 at the time when the fence went up, provided a dramatic example of the ongoing decline and disappearance then of the forest in that part of Glen Affric.

By August 2010, a new generation of young pines are almost as tall as the dead trees, graphically illustrating how the forest has recovered in the absence of overgrazing. These dead trees, or snags, are virtually unchanged in the past 20 years, due to the high resin content in their wood, which acts as a natural preservative. Skeleton pines like these can persist for many decades, or even a century, before rotting away, and provide an important habitat for a range of dead wood-dependent species.

David Bellamy unveiling the plaque at the Coille Ruigh exclosure on 14th September 1990. On the left are Forestry Commission staff at the time, while on the right of the plaque are two of the workers who erected the fence. Alan is below the plaque, and beside him is Neil McAdam, who also worked on putting up the fence.

In this 20th anniversary photo taken on 14th September 2010, Alan and Neil McAdam are to the left and right of the plaque respectively. Giles Drake-Brockman of FCS is on the left, while the others are Trees for Life staff Elaine Dempsey and Colin Hall (between Giles and Alan) and Adam Powell (next to Neil McAdam) and Jill Hodge (far right). Also in the photo are Trees for Life supporters Fay Blackburn (under the plaque) and Yvonne Overton (second from right).

Dan Puplett beside an area of substantial birch regeneration inside the Coille Ruigh fence in August 2010. These trees have regenerated naturally from the seeds of a massive old birch that died about 3 years after the fence went up (once its offspring were safe from being eaten!). They are growing at a density of 6,900 trees per hectare – several times the official planting density for new native woodland schemes!

Abundant regeneration of pines and birch at the southern end of the exclosure. The lone holly in the area, seen here between the two dead pines, was 5.7 metres (18.7 feet) tall in August 2010 and regularly produces berries, with the seeds being propagated in our nursery at Plodda Lodge. The larger of these two dead pines died since the fence was put up in 1990.

This crested tit (Parus cristatus) on one of the regenerating pines at Coille Ruigh in August 2010 seemed to be appreciating the healthy growth of the new trees as much as we do!