Environmental solutions

Woodland & forestry

Our forestry team has been planning, delivering and managing woodlands across Scotland for four decades.

What we do

Our expertise in forestry

You could say we know a thing or two about trees. Increasing tree cover is where it all started for us back in the 1980s, as Central Scotland Forest Trust. Our knowledge and experience have expanded since then and woodlands form a part of most of the projects we deliver. We have a dedicated team of foresters ready to create and manage woodlands, and to help develop your woodland strategy.

Planning, Funding and Planting

We provide the experience, skills and funding support to get woodland and forestry projects underway at all scales.  Since establishing the Central Scotland Forest back in the 1980s, we’ve planted over 20 million trees, created 8,000 hectares of woodland and sequestered well over half a million tonnes of CO2.

Creating woodland the right way is not just about quantity. Wherever possible, we source our new trees from local nurseries, selecting species mixes that reflect site circumstances like soil type, historic providence, biodiversity enhancement and local people’s needs.

We also increase the scale and accelerate delivery of new woodland creation by bringing in additional external financial support from grant schemes, charities and the business sector.

Woodland Management

We actively engage in improving the quality of existing woodlands throughout Scotland, primarily seeking to enhance both their biodiversity and amenity value. This largely falls into three areas.

Firstly, to facilitate woodland management initiatives, we secure funding and can also administer grants, hold funds, and report back to funders on behalf of project partners.

Secondly, we have extensive experience in developing long-term management plans for woodlands and planning phases of works.

Finally, we can implement and project manage the physical delivery of woodland and forestry works on site.

Woodland Strategy Development

We actively contribute to the formulation of Woodland Strategies at both national and local levels.

Working with local authorities, we support local and regional forest strategy development, and woodland strategies for Local Biodiversity Action Plans. 

We are also able to support  partnerships and initiatives focussing on woodland creation and improvement, for example, the Riverwoods Initiative, the Community Woodlands Association, and the Native Woodlands Action Group.

Benefits

Three benefits of woodlands

For over 40 years we have been at the forefront of making the case for planting more trees across Scotland and physically delivering woodland creation projects that demonstrably deliver multiple benefits in three key areas.

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environmental

Woodlands are an important part of delivering Scotland’s commitment to reach Net Zero by 2045 by storing up carbon.  They also help to improve air quality in urban areas and address localised pollution.

greenspace

economic

Every year we create over 10,000 employment days through GAT forestry projects and the timber harvested supplies UK industry with local materials. Woodlands also help to reduce flooding and mitigate the associated economic impacts.

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social

Planting trees in and around urban areas provides natural places for people meet, explore and enjoy. This provides a vital connection with nature, enhancing health and wellbeing.

Contact us to get started

From advice on developing a proposal, to putting trees in the ground, it all starts with a conversation. Contact us to get the ball rolling.

Featured Woodland Project

turning landfill to woodland

Greenoakhill Forest occupies a former landfill site in the east of Glasgow by the M74. We delivered a new community woodland with 20,000 trees and improved access with new paths, seating, car park and a teaching circle for this £600,000 project.

Before

Vacant landfill site

Construction Starts

Roseanna Cunningham MSP visits the site

Near completion

Planting and paths under way

After

Woodland planted and paths built

Services

Delivering Strategic Woodland Programmes at Scale

We act as a lead delivery partner in woodland creation as part of some of Scotland’s biggest environmental programmes. These involve partnership working with multiple stakeholders, such as funders, landowners, local authorities, communities and public agencies.

These partnership programmes allow us to make a bigger impact than stand-alone projects ever could, delivering outcomes such as carbon sequestration, increasing native species and making habitat connections to boost biodiversity at scale.

Our Woodland & Forestry Services

How to commission a woodland project

If you are looking to plan or deliver a woodland or forestry project, we can help. We can offer a range of services, up to full project delivery and longer term partnerships.

Let us take the strain

We can provide a complete end-to-end solution, from inception to delivery and ongoing evaluation. This puts us in a unique position to help you develop your initial project idea, maximise its potential, and see it through to completion.

Commission our experts

If you’re looking to add expertise or capacity in specialist areas, rather than across a whole project, we can provide services on a stand-alone basis across a number of specialisms.

We can provide key elements of your project, such as contract and grant management, feasibility studies, GIS data analysis and mapping, or any component part of our complete end-to-end solution. Contact us to discuss your requirements.

working longer term for a better future

A great deal of our work is done with long-standing partners, who trust us to advise and deliver on long-term strategies to help achieve big goals on climate, biodiversity and social change.

If you have a vision or long-term objective and need an environmental partner to nurture it over years, not months, we’ll be happy to discuss this with you.

Project examples

Our woodland projects

We have been creating and managing woodland and forestry projects across the country for four decades. Browse the gallery for a selection of our work and visit the projects page for more in-depth examples.

Clyde Climate Forest

Delivering a vision to plant 18 million trees in both urban and rural parts of Glasgow City Region over the next decade.

Leven Programme

The Leven Programme is a series of connected projects along the River Leven in Fife, which have the environment, heritage and people at their heart.

Lochshore, Ayrshire

Woodland creation project at Lochshore.

Cart & Kittoch Woodland

Creating a native broadleaf woodland south of Glasgow for local communities to use and to connect woodland habitats across the city.

Central Scotland Green Network

We are responsible for driving the delivery of the CSGN. Covering 10,000 square kilometres and with a 40-year timeframe, this is one of the largest and most ambitious green infrastructure programmes in Europe.

Black Moss Nature Park

West Lothian Council commissioned us to manage and improve the woodlands and peatland in this nature park in Armadale.

Polmont Woodlands Phase 3

This project for Falkirk Council aims to improve the resilience, amenity, and conservation value of woodlands across the Polmont area.

Kilmacolm Community Woodland

Our aim is to work with the community to create a woodland site that can be enjoyed by all and remains a haven for wildlife.

Polmont Woodlands

This project for Falkirk Council aimed to improve the resilience, amenity, and conservation value of woodlands across the Polmont area.

Polmont Woodlands

This project for Falkirk Council aimed to improve the resilience, amenity, and conservation value of woodlands across the Polmont area.

Kilmacolm Community Woodland

Our aim is to work with the community to create a woodland site that can be enjoyed by all and remains a haven for wildlife.

Polmont Woodlands Phase 3

This project for Falkirk Council aims to improve the resilience, amenity, and conservation value of woodlands across the Polmont area.

Black Moss Nature Park

West Lothian Council commissioned us to manage and improve the woodlands and peatland in this nature park in Armadale.

Central Scotland Green Network

We are responsible for driving the delivery of the CSGN. Covering 10,000 square kilometres and with a 40-year timeframe, this is one of the largest and most ambitious green infrastructure programmes in Europe.

Cart & Kittoch Woodland

Creating a native broadleaf woodland south of Glasgow for local communities to use and to connect woodland habitats across the city.

Lochshore, Ayrshire

Woodland creation project at Lochshore.

Clyde Climate Forest

Delivering a vision to plant 18 million trees in both urban and rural parts of Glasgow City Region over the next decade.

Leven Programme

The Leven Programme is a series of connected projects along the River Leven in Fife, which have the environment, heritage and people at their heart.

Blogs

Related articles

Read our selected blogs and project stories related to this area of our work, or browse all articles on our Blogs page.

Urban Woodlands improvement project delivers at seven Falkirk sites

We recently completed work on the Lower Braes Urban Woodlands Project at seven sites in the Falkirk area.

Scotland’s tree planting celebrated at Queen’s Green Canopy event

The tree planting ceremony in Glasgow marked the close of The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative and its success in Scotland.

Tree planted to celebrate Kilmacolm community woodland initiative

The tree planting ceremony marked the first step towards creating a local woodland to benefit both community and wildlife.