Volunteers plant first of 7,000 trees for Dingwall community woodland

By Kieran Beattie

January 17 2023, 11:45 am

Volunteers with the Dingwall Community Woodland group have planted the first of 7,000 trees planned to overlook the Highland town. Image: Forestry Scotland.

The first of 7,000 trees planned for Dingwall’s new community woodland have been planted by volunteers.

The new woodland will contain new native trees, primarily oak and birch, and will be located in the fields behind Macrae Crescent at the south-west of the town.

Once it’s fully planted, it will cover an area of land around the same size as five large football fields, and paths will be created to encourage people to enjoy a walk in the great outdoors.

‘We really wanted the Dingwall community to be at the heart of it all’

The seeds of the idea for a community woodland in Dingwall were first sowed by local farmer and land management consultant Richard Lockett of Knockbain Farm.

Eventually, the Dingwall Community Woodland group was established after a public consultation in 2020 to make the project a reality.

The initiative has benefitted from £30,000 of funding from Scottish Forestry’s Forestry Grants Scheme, as well as an extra £3,000 towards the community group to help them with organising volunteer planting projects.

The new woodland is being planted thanks to the hard work and dedication from volunteers from the Dingwall community like these. Image: Forestry Scotland

Richard said he’s delighted that after all their hard work, volunteers with the group have finally planted the first of the thousands of trees planned for the woodland.

He said: “It really is fantastic to see all this hard work now coming to fruition.

“The enthusiasm and energy of the local community has been brilliant.

“We have been planting trees and hedges on Knockbain for some time now as there are so many benefits for nature, livestock shelter, climate change, and of course for people.

“The field being used for the woodland is right next to the town of Dingwall and not crucial to the farm business so when we thought about planting it up with native trees we really wanted the community to be at the heart of it all.”