The West Affric Forest Restoration Initiative: Palaeoecological Approaches

Citation

Tipping R, Davies A & Tisdall E (1999) The West Affric Forest Restoration Initiative: Palaeoecological Approaches. In: Tipping R (ed.) Using the Past in the Future of Scotland’s New Native Woodlands. Scottish Woodland History Discussion Group Notes, 4. St Andrews: Scottish Woodland History Group, pp. 13-21. http://nwdg.org.uk/doc/SWHDG_Notes04_1999.pdf

Abstract
First paragraph: It is intended to restore to the NTS-owned property at West Affric, in northern Scotland, its former ‘native' woodlands (Bachell this volume), a project co-funded by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and the Millennium Forest for Scotland (MFS). This simple intention, however, conceals a series of major and highly important uncertainties. Critical in these is the necessity in, for instance, Native Woodland Grants Schemes, for the tree species to be planted to be those that formerly grew in that area, in short, for the tree species to be within their geographic range (House this volume). In West Affric, as in so many areas of Scotland, it is not possible to demonstrate from desk-top survey what that native woodland should be (Tipping 1998). Firstly, there is virtually no woodland remaining on this upland/montane part of the NTS property; secondly, it cannot be assumed that the remaining scrubby and isolated trees bear any clear relation to the woodlands intended to be restored (Davies, Tipping & Tisdall 1997).