Locals enthusiasm towards Lewis woodland project praised

During a recent visit to the Isle of Lewis, the Highlands and Islands Regional Forestry Forum have praised locals on their enthusiasm towards the creation of new woodland.

In their first visit in 15 years, a number of talks and field visits took place with the 16 strong Forestry Forum visiting two recently planted woodland schemes at Point and Lochs.

One hundred hectares of woodland is to be created in the Western Isles by 2020 under the Croft Woodland Project, by the Point and Sandwick Trust (PST) in partnership with the Woodland Trust.

The PST have committed to funding the work of Viv Halcrow, the Croft Woodlands Project Officer, who is based at the PST offices and will cover the whole of the Outer Hebrides.

Donald MacLeod, Woodland Officer with Forestry Commission Scotland, said: “We’re definitely seeing improvements.

“There’s a level of expertise very slowly being built up but it takes a lot of time and you really need people like Viv. It really needs someone on the ground who is able to come and do workshops and it needs continuity.”

In figures presented at the PST AGM in November last year, 42,410 trees had been planted since the projects inception in 2016.