REWILDING efforts near Moffat continue as the Border Forest Trust (BFT) secures more land at Ericstane.
The trust announced this week that their application to plant 60 hectares of native woodland between Corehead and the Devil’s Beeftub have been approved by Scottish Forestry.
This means that a whopping 74,336 mixed broadleaved trees and shrubs will be planted at Ericstane North to create a mosaic of upland oak, birch and alder woodland types. It will also link to the ongoing native woodland planting at Corehead, expanding the native woodland
at the head of the Annan Water valley.
The planting will take place in autumn/winter 2025/26 to the give the trust enough time to carry out bracken crushing to weaken the highly competitive plant’s presence at the site.
Reacting to the news, a spokesperson for the BFT said: “A tremendous amount of work has gone into developing the plans and undertaking surveys to ensure the planting does not have any detrimental effects on the site.
“A big thanks goes to Andy Hines from Walker Hines Woodland Services for coordinating this work and preparing the proposal. Thanks also to Reuben Singleton, Andrew MacQueen, Jim Knight and Calluna Archaeology, the consultants involved in undertaking the survey work. Finally, a huge thanks to everyone who supported our appeal to buy Ericstane in the first place, we couldn’t have got this far without your support!
“We are delighted to think that Ericstane North will soon be a biodiverse home for countless species to flourish.
“BFT volunteers, we hope you get some good rest over the festive break, as we have a lot of native trees to get in the ground come 2025!”
