Completed project
Creating a native broadleaf woodland south of Glasgow for local communities to use and to connect woodland habitats across the city.
Client, partners and funding
Glasgow City Council commissioned Green Action Trust to deliver this woodland creation project to increase tree cover, connect habitats and provide access to greenspace for local people.
We partnered with the Lost Woods Project and The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) to deliver the tree planting.
The project was delivered over two phases, with funding provided by Scottish Forestry, the International Tree Foundation, Scottish Water Business Stream, EB Scotland and Glasgow City Council.
What was achieved
The project delivered multiple outcomes across these key areas:
31 hectares of native woodland were planted with 42,000 trees.
The project not only created woodland habitat but also provides habitat connectivity by linking into neighbouring woodland areas.
Through the creation of new paths and gates for local residents and visitors to access the new woodland.
This large native broadleaved woodland creation scheme near Carmunnock, Glasgow was delivered over two years on land owned by Glasgow Council and included a large primary school volunteer event involving over 150 Glasgow schools.
In 2019, Glasgow City Council commissioned Green Action Trust to identify opportunities to increase the city’s woodland area, woodland habitat, and tree canopy within the city limits to help mitigate the city’s carbon emissions. Cart and Kittoch Woodlands near Carmunnock was chosen as a site that could deliver on these objectives.
Key objectives of this project included creating a native woodland that the local community could use, and to enhance habitat connectivity. The first phase of the project, delivered in early 2020, saw 15.5 ha of native woodland planted, creating an integrated woodland habitat that stretches around the southern edge of the city from Linn Park, through the Cart & Kittoch native woodland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and all the way to Cathkin Braes Country Park.
In 2021, another 15.5 ha of new native woodland was added, extending the project site eastward to Cathkin Braes Country Park. Green Action Trust partnered with the Lost Woods Project and all 151 primary schools in Glasgow, with over 1,200 students participating in a week-long tree planting event, held in advance of COP26.
The children planted thousands of trees, many of which had been grown by them from seed, creating the Glasgow Children’s Woodland. With the support from Scottish Water Business Stream, a follow-up planting event was held to add an additional 2,000 trees to the woodland.
Watch the video
Embedded within the wider Cart & Kittoch project was the creation of the Glasgow Children’s Woodland during phase 2. This initiative involved over 1,200 primary schoolchildren growing saplings from seed and planting them over the course of a week-long planting event.
We worked together with The Lost Woods project to deliver this phase. Watch their video to find out more about this part of the project.
Cart & Kittoch Woodland
Click or swipe through the images to see how the planting progressed during phase 2 of the project.
Images of planting the Glasgow Children’s Woodland courtesy of Allan Peebles & The Lost Woods.
From feasibility studies to forests, grant management to greenspace, we can help to make your project a reality. It all starts with a conversation, so contact us now to get started.
