SUTHERLAND COMMUNITY SIGNS UP TO HISTORIC FOREST MANAGEMENT DEAL

A small community in the Far North of Scotland made history today (Thursday 12th May) by agreeing to jointly manage 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of some of the oldest publicly owned forests in Britain.

This occurred when the North Sutherland Community Forestry Trust signed a joint management agreement with Forestry Commission Scotland for a cluster of national forests known as Naver and Borgie Forests.

Under the 25-year agreement, the Commission has formally committed to consult and liaise with the Bettyhill-based Trust over current and future management of the forests.

The Trust will also have first option to carry out work in areas of the forests where there are agreed management plans.

The agreement provides that the Commission and the Trust will also work together to:

actively encourage joint projects;

seek ways to enhance the benefits to the local community from existing timber operations and promote and facilitate local timber and forest products by, for example, offering for sale quantities of timber suitable for small-scale local contractors and the wider community;

encourage and promote the use of the forest for public recreation;

encourage and promote visitor interest through on-site and remote interpretation;

encourage and promote sustainable use of the wild game in the forests, and consider the wider benefits this might bring to the wider community;

seek to maximise the non-forestry benefits that can be provided by the unplanted lands at Borgie;

investigate the potential for forest small-holdings and implement them where they are feasible; and

consider and action where possible the leasing of land to the Trust, its subsidiaries and third parties where this would enable the furtherance of the above objectives.

The initial focus of the partnership agreement will be on the largest and best known of the five forests, the 3142-hectare Borgie Forest, for which the Commission and the Trust signed a joint management plan today.

The Trust and the Commission have already established a Borgie Forest Local Management Group that brings together representatives of both organisations to work as a partnership on the forests’ management and planning.

Among potential forest-based opportunities the partners will investigate are tourism businesses such as pony trekking and holiday chalets, a nursery and arboretum, training programmes, woodland burial sites and game-based businesses.

Signing the agreement today was Hugh Insley, chief executive officer of the Commission’s forest management agency, Forest Enterprise Scotland. He said,

“We’re delighted to sign this agreement, and we look forward to getting down to work with the Trust to turn the words into reality.

“One of the priorities for action in the Scottish Executive’s Scottish Forestry Strategy is to maximise the benefits from national forests to local communities. As we have seen with similar joint management agreements with communities elsewhere in Scotland, this is an excellent example of one of the ways in which this can be achieved.

“The Commission’s aim is to manage Borgie & Naver Forests as a public asset in a way that maximises the benefits for all sectors of the community, and we are committed, through actively supporting the Trust, to forming a fruitful partnership that will deliver those benefits to the local community.”

Trust chairman Sandy Murray signed the agreement for the Trust, and he said,

"The Trust is delighted that we have got the management agreement in place. This will allow the community to work alongside Forestry Commission Scotland in the management and running of Borgie Forest for the benefit of both. We look forward to working with Forestry Commission to bring joint projects forward together."

NOTES TO EDITOR:

The North Sutherland Forests, also collectively known as Naver & Borgie Forests, comprise national forest areas totalling 9810ha at Borgie, Dyke, Forsinain, Rimsdale, Rosal and Syre.
Borgie Forest, the biggest and most important, is on the north coast of Sutherland and extends south from the main A836 road between the villages of Bettyhill and Tongue. It is managed as a multipurpose forest, with significant timber production supplying timber for pallets, fencing, strainer posts, railing and orientated strand board, and extensive recreation provision. It is expected to produce about 10,000 tonnes of timber a year during the life of the 25-year partnership agreement.
The first planting took place in 1920, just a year after the Commission was set up to re-establish a national reserve of timber, making it one of the oldest public forests in Great Britain. The first seedlings planted were cultivated at a local nursery at Borgie Bridge. It suffered disastrous damage in a fire in 1942 and a gale in 1953, which left less than half the trees standing. The last planting of new ground was carried out in 1977. The predominant species are lodgepole pine and Sitka spruce, with some Scots pine, larches and other conifer species.
Wildlife in Borgie and Naver Forests includes red, roe and sika deer, black-throated and red-throated divers, otters and several birds of prey species.
Archaeological features in the forest area include a souterrain at Cracknie, a corn kiln and numerous remains of previous settlements.
Borgie Forest contains a significant network of tracks used by walkers and mountain bikers, and 14 kilometres of forest roads. There is a Gaelic “alphabet spiral” near the western entrance created as an art and interpretation feature. On the east side a small area of land has been given over to the Trust a for a Nordic berry-growing trial.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) surround many of these forests, mostly for the peatland interest, and these form part of the Caithness & Sutherland Peatlands Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA). The River Borgie, which runs through the forest, is an SSSI for its internationally important population of freshwater pearl mussels.
Forestry Commission Scotland employs five local forest craftsmen, a wildlife ranger and a forest supervisor in the area, and expects soon to appoint a new forest foreman to be based at Bettyhill. Most felling operations are carried out by contractors.
The North Sutherland Community Forestry Trust was formed in May 2000 and draws its members from the parishes of Farr, Tongue and Durness. Forestry Commission Scotland’s district manager is a member of the Trust board. The Commission has been involved in a considerable amount of consultation, liaison and joint project working with the Trust since 2000, culminating in the formal joint management agreement signed today.
The Commission has entered into joint forest management agreements with the Laggan Forestry Trust at Laggan in Inverness-shire, the Birse Community Trust in Kincardineshire, the Minard Community Trust in Argyll, the Cree Valley Community Woodland Trust in Dumfries & Galloway, and the Borders Forest Trust in the Scottish Borders.
Forestry Commission Scotland serves as the Scottish Executive’s forestry department. It manages 666,000ha of national forest lands owned by Scottish Ministers on behalf of the Scottish people, for multiple public benefits including sustainable timber production, public recreation and nature conservation; supports other woodland owners with grants, felling licences, advice and regulation; promotes the benefits of forests and forestry; and advises Ministers on forestry policy.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

FC Scotland – Charlton Clark, 0131 314 6507; mobile 07810 181067.
North Sutherland Community Forestry Trust - Sandy Murray 01641 571219 or Anna MacConnell 01641 541326.

e-mail: charlton.clark@forestry.gsi.gov.uk