A conservation charity has bought a mountain and ancient woodland in the north-west Highlands after raising £1.6 million in less than two months.
Ben Shieldaig’s pine wood can be traced back to the end of the last ice age.
Woodland Trust Scotland launched a bid in January to raise £1.6m to purchase the 1,752ft tall mountain after it was put up for sale by a private landowner.
Some £200,000 of the donations came from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Ben Shieldaig, near Shieldaig, is one of Scotland’s Marilyns, hills with a drop of at least 150m on all sides.
Woodland Trust Scotland said the 3,800 acres involved was among important habitats in the area.
“It’s a rare hub of unique wildlife: golden eagles soar, pine marten climb the trees, otters play by the shore and red squirrels nest in ancient Caledonian pinewood. It is also home to a Scottish rainforest of native birchwood which supports some of the world’s rarest lichens, liverworts and oceanic bryophytes,” it said.
“Unfortunately, much of Scotland’s ancient and special woodland is unmanaged and beginning to degrade. The hills around Ben Shieldaig were once much more densely forested, however today only individual trees and fragments of scattered woodland remain.
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“Human impact and high deer numbers continue to threaten the woods, and unless we can make the estate as resilient and healthy as possible, they will disappear – along with the wildlife that relies on them.
“Ben Shieldaig is an entire ecosystem in one of the best known upland landscapes in the UK. Woodland creation schemes of this magnitude seldom become available, especially not at such an iconic location.”
It is now trying to raise £3.4m to help cover management costs.
“We will use this money over the next 20 years to begin the process of planting, protecting and regenerating this Site of Special Scientific Interest and let Ben Shieldaig and its wildlife thrive and flourish,” said the trust.
Its director Carol Evans previously said the sale of the hill offered the charity “a rare opportunity” to bring a whole hill under its care.
She said: “It already supports a magnificent area of ancient Caledonian pinewood and a temperate rainforest of native birchwood.
“Perhaps even more exciting is the potential to manage these within a mosaic of their natural neighbours.”
She added: “We will consult with local people about our plans once we secure ownership.
“Our aim is to see native woodland, montane scrub and open moorland habitats meshing naturally with each other from sea to sky.
“That would encapsulate all that a restored landscape can be, not just in Torridon but across the Highlands.”
