Environmental solutions
Our forestry team has been planning, delivering and managing woodlands across Scotland for four decades.
What we do
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Vacant landfill site
Roseanna Cunningham MSP visits the site
Planting and paths under way
Woodland planted and paths built
Services
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Blogs
Read our selected blogs and project stories related to this area of our work, or browse all articles on our Blogs page.
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.
