Reforestation to go ahead with £200,000 grant

Two Perthshire businesses are forging ahead with plans for reforestation thanks to nearly £200,000 from the Scottish Rural Development Programme.

Kirkton of Mailer Farm was awarded just over £148,000 to plant more than 74 acres (30 hectares) of native woodland next to St Magdalene’s Hill woodland, in Perth.

The Scottish Government project aims to improve biodiversity and enhance the setting of a path that takes walkers to the top of Kirkton Hill without having to cross cattle fields.

Ballathie Estate was awarded just over £47,000 to help expand and improve the management of its native woodlands. The scheme will improve public access and biodiversity.

The estate plans to plant feature trees, reduce pollution, create habitats for winter feeding and summer shelter for farmland birds and improve the condition of the Bloody Inches wetland, a designated site of special scientific interest.

Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said: “Increasing the level of forest cover in Scotland – particularly the level of native woodland – will deliver a wide range of benefits to landowners, communities and to wildlife but, most importantly, it will help us to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

She said Forestry Commission Scotland was spearheading a drive to have a quarter of the country’s land given over to trees during the second half of this century.

“Private landowners have a significant part to play in helping us achieve this and I am pleased that landowners are taking advantage of the grant assistance available to them,” she said.

“These two Perthshire schemes are perfect examples of the type of project that the forestry element of SRDP aims to support.”