15 AUGUST 2008 NEWS RELEASE No: 10858

Promoting the treasure trove of history found in Scotland’s woodlands will create a legacy of cultural, artistic and economic opportunities for generations to come, Environment Minister, Michael Russell, said today (Friday 15 August).

For over 10,000 years people have interacted with forests and woodlands in the landscape and have left behind tell tale signs of their passing.

Conserving, protecting and promoting these sites – through tourism, culture and art events - will benefit communities and businesses and help to make Scotland’s fascinating story more widely known.

Scotland’s Woodlands and the Historic Environment - published today by Forestry Commission Scotland - outlines how the forestry sector can tap into this rich cultural heritage and help develop historic sites - including designed landscapes and ancient woodlands.

Speaking at the, launch during a visit to Bronze-Age cup and ring marked rock art near Kilmartin, Argyll, Mr Russell said:

“Our historic environment is an incredibly rich and versatile resource. Developing the visitor and tourism potential of our heritage woodlands will have benefits for learning, for tourism and for rural development.

“These woodlands and their landscape settings still bear the marks left by our forebears as they wrought their living from the land. The remnants of their communities and the evidence of their efforts speak of the tenacity, invention, resilience and adaptability that has passed down to us and provide a fascinating glimpse of where we have come from and how far we have travelled.

“It is a heritage that we should be justly proud of and from which we have a lot to learn. I welcome this commitment to protect and promote the historic environment across all of Scotland's woodlands.”

Throughout Scotland’s history, woodlands and forests have been vitally important to the development and sustenance of settlements, industries and communities. There is an abundance of colourful, incredible and tragic stories to tell - from as far back as the last ice age right up to the 20th Century.

Many of these stories still have something to say to a modern audience - about how important it is to sustainably manage our natural resources, and the importance of diversification.

Over 25,000 archaeological features lie in or around Scotland's woodlands. Examples of historic landscapes that are set to benefit include:

• Lossiemouth (Morayshire) - in the forests by Lossiemouth there remain abandoned gun emplacements and tank traps that were established as a line of defence during the second world war. The Commission is uniquely placed to offer a cultural heritage interpretation of this sort of archaeology in a landscape / natural context.
• Little Garve Bridge (Highland region) -A 200 year-old double-arched bridge recently renovated by Forestry Commission Scotland, this Scheduled Monument, spans the River Black Water at Little Garve on the road to Ullapool. It was constructed under the command of Major Caulfield -successor to the more widely known General Wade - as part of the military road network designed to make it easier to suppress Jacobean forces in the Highlands.
• Achnabreac Forest (Argyll) - Uncovered by the January storms in 2008, the cup and ring marks in Achnabreac Forest (near Lochgilphead) are believed to be around 5,000 years old. Thought to be connected with other sites in the area, the meaning, reason and purpose of the markings remains mysterious. The archaeology is presented in partnership with Historic Scotland and the Kilmartin House Museum.
• Antonine Wall (Croy) - a newly designated World Heritage Site that gives a stirring insight into the politics and struggles of an age long gone.
• Castle O'er (Eskdalemuir) and the White Esk valley hillforts - The White Esk Valley offers a fantastic Iron Age landscape that appears to have been an important core area of settlement for what was a predominantly pastoral community. The site includes Castle O'er and several smaller, satellite forts as well as a rare complex system of linear earthworks linking them all together.

Scotland’s Woodlands and the Historic Environment can be viewed on-line at www.forestry.gov.uk/histenvpolicy

NOTES TO EDITOR:
1) Forestry Commission Scotland serves as the Scottish Government's forestry department. For more information log on to www.forestry.gov.uk/aboutfcs

2) Forestry Commission Scotland supports other landowners both through implementing and advising on the Scottish Forestry Strategy 2006 ( www.forestry.gov.uk/sfs ) and through administering forestry grants through the Scottish Rural development Programme ( www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Rural/SRDP and www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-5zad6a )

3) The Scottish Forestry Strategy 2006 is the Scottish Government’s framework for taking forestry through the first half of this century. A contributing part of the vision for achieving the outcome of high quality, robust and adaptable environment, is the protection and promotion of the historic environment and cultural heritage.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Paul Munro, Forestry Commission Scotland press office 07785 527590 on the day, or Steve Williams 0131 314 6508.