Castle Loch Lochmaben Community Trust has now purchased a neighbouring patch of woodland, the 20 acre Kirkhirst Plantation, located at the southern end of the loch.
The land came up for private sale early in 2018 and the idea for extending the reserve, rather than seeing it become commercial plantation, was planted.
Darren Flint, project of cer at Castle Loch, said: “There has been so much work by many
people over the last year to make this happen and I would like to thank each and every one of them.
“Now it’s the exciting bit, where we roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty – if any- one would like to help out please do get in contact.”
Over the coming 18 months, volunteers and contractors will be working hard to put in new safety fencing, restore the woodland to a wildlife rich habitat, create a new footpath and a safe outdoor play area.
Darren added: “The new footpath will mean we can move away from using the shared track, which can often be very muddy and
creates access problems.
“A big thank you goes out to the Scot-
tish Land Fund, who enabled the initial purchase of the site; along with Magnox, Annandale and Nithsdale Community Benefit Company and all the private donors for their help towards the infra- structure work.”
