New research demonstrates potential for forest regeneration in Highlands
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New research released by the Cairngorms Connect Partnership demonstrates the potential of forest regeneration in the Cairngorms National Park and wider Scottish Highlands.
Scientists for the partnership worked together to collate decades of data which they claim shows how long-term coordinated deer control, without need for fencing or planting, enables trees to recolonise upland areas at a landscape scale.
Native woodlands now cover only around six per cent of Scotland’s land area, compared to much larger potential areas which could hold native woodland. Restoring these woodlands is a way to help address the climate and biodiversity crisis.
In Scotland, native pinewoods now cover only about one per cent of their former range, following centuries of human intervention – firstly from tree felling and then from livestock grazing – and diminishing production of viable seed.
More recently, although livestock numbers have been reduced in many areas, trees have been battling against ever-increasing deer numbers. Whilst red and roe deer are a natural and important part of Scotland’s landscape, an absence of predators and historic land use means their numbers are unsustainably high over large areas, giving little chance for trees to re-establish in areas where woodland has been lost.
Working collaboratively, scientists and land managers from across the Cairngorms Connect Partnership has brought together more than 30 years of data on tree regeneration and deer, from across four neighbouring landholdings, to build understanding on whether trees can indeed regenerate across this landscape in the presence of deer.
This work was made possible thanks to funding from the Endangered Landscapes Programme, as well as ongoing investment by each of the Cairngorms Connect Partners – Wildland Limited, NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland and RSPB Scotland, with support from the Cairngorms National Park Authority.
Speaking on behalf of the Partnership, Dr Pip Gullett, Cairngorms Connect project scientist said: “The data shows a consistent, large-scale expansion of native woodland, largely through natural regeneration alongside deer culling, without the use of fences and with minimal planting. This was achieved across the Partnership, despite the different land management histories and approaches across the partnership area.”
She continued: “Importantly, the research shows that woodlands were regenerating and expanding successfully in the presence of deer, as long as deer numbers were kept relatively low for long periods.”
Ian Sargent, co-author and NatureScot’s reserve manager for Invereshie and Inshriach NNR, said: “This research provides yet more clear evidence for why it’s so vital to sustainably manage Scotland’s deer to bring populations in balance with the rest of nature and effectively tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.
"The findings are also testament to the power of partnership working to achieve woodland recovery and expansion on a landscape-scale. It’s truly heartening to see the results at our Invereshie and Inshriach NNR, where small pines are marching up the lower slopes and natural tree regeneration is already occurring well above 600m, in some cases even on the very exposed summits of some of the peaks.”
Duncan Orr-Ewing, RSPB head of species and land management said: “Sustainable deer management is a critical action in the restoration of native woodlands and peatlands in the Cairngorms Connect landscape. Because our activities over centuries have created an absence of natural predators in Scotland and the rest of the UK, deer populations must be managed by humans to more sustainable levels which reduce damage to sensitive habitats.
“Deer management gives forests and peatlands space to recover and brings a myriad of benefits from supporting populations of rare species to storing carbon to flood mitigation. This management is delivered humanely and to a high standard by trained deer stalkers and the venison goes to supply food markets.”
Dr David Hetherington, co-author and Nature Networks Manager at the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “The scale of the expansion of native woodlands achieved by Cairngorms Connect through deer control has been very impressive and shows what is possible when likeminded partners come together across the UK’s largest national park.
“We have a target of at least another 10,000 ha of native woodland expansion to be delivered across the Cairngorms National Park through unfenced regeneration by 2045, and partnerships like Cairngorms Connect will be integral to this effort.”
