Carrifran Wildwood
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The Carrifran Wildwood is a project by the Borders Forest Trust (BFT) to re-establish native woodland and the associated ecology within Carrifran, a glen north east of Moffat in the Moffat Hills, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland.
The project was initially conceived in 1993 by members of the Peeblesshire Environmental Concern group, aiming to restore a whole catchment area to a pre-agricultural standard. 1995 saw the formation of the Wildwood Group who then formed the BFT the following year in 1996. No public money was used in the purchase of the 1500 acres, totalling nearly £400,000; instead all funds were donated by private individuals and charitable trusts. Primarily 600 people gave £200 each before the word "rewilding" and "crowdfunding" had become part of the vocabulary.[1] The first trees were planted on 1 January 2000, the same day that the land was officially acquired.[2][3] The project formed to create Carrigan Wood has been credited with inspiring other British communities to launch similar rewilding projects.[1]
Over 750,000 trees and shrubs were strategically planted according to the management plan in the first 24 years by volunteers and annual contractors.[1] Several thousand trees were still planted annually by BFT work party volunteers in 2021, primarily around the upper rim of the glen.[4] The focus of work later moved to the adjacent 'Corehead and Devil's Beef Tub' and 'Talla and Gameshope' areas, acquired in 2009 and 2013 respectively. Together, these three areas in the Moffat Hills are known as 'The Wild Heart of Southern Scotland'.[5]
Outcomes
Most of the planting in the glen is now finished and the woodland will take many years to fully establish. Despite this a number of changes have already been seen:
"Foxes and badgers are now common and otters, stoats and weasels are also present. Kestrels, buzzards, peregrines and ravens are regularly seen (as previously) and there are occasional records of short-eared, long-eared and barn owls. There are large increases in willow warblers and chaffinches, and many other woodland and scrub species such as blackcap, long-tailed tit, siskin, lesser redpoll, reed bunting and tree pipit are gradually establishing themselves. Ring ouzels are variable in occurrence but black grouse have maintained a good population, recently with eight regularly displaying males."[6]
