<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/06/hunt-for-scotlands-ancient-wild-pinewoods-restoration>
"James Rainey reads trees like most people read signposts.
The senior ecologist with the rewilding charity Trees for Life is using a small
hand lens to identify a particular lichen that is wreathing the base of an
aspen tree in a secluded glen on the west coast of Scotland. He is looking for
“ecological clues” of species associated with the ancient Caledonian forest
that once covered most of the Highlands, like this aspen, certain wildflowers,
such as serrated wintergreen, and some lichens, such as black-eyed Susan and
Norwegian specklebelly.
Wild pines have been growing in Scotland since the last ice age. This is a
globally unique ecosystem that supports rare wildlife, including red squirrels,
capercaillie and crossbills. Now less than 2% of the original growth survives,
with just 84 individual Caledonian pinewoods officially recognised, having last
been documented more than a quarter of a century ago.
But now Trees for Life and Woodland Trust Scotland have become aware of up to
50 other hitherto uncharted wild pinewoods, both from historical documents and
anecdotal contemporary reports. The charities have turned tree detectives as
they embark on the painstaking process of mapping – and hopefully reviving –
these remote pockets of forgotten forest before they vanish for ever."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
