1.7+ million trees planted on crofts
PR & communications officer - Scotland
A scheme to help crofters create native woods has planted over 1.7 million trees in the last decade and established forestry as part of the crofting landscape.
The Croft Woodlands Project was launched in 2015 to run for an initial phase of five years. The response from crofters was so positive it was rolled on for a further five years.
With demand for its services still high, Woodland Trust Scotland has now announced it will continue offering tailored help for crofters, to keep building on the project’s achievements.
Woodland Trust Scotland outreach manager Iona Hyde said:
“Thank you to everyone who has been part of the project, including the many crofters, farmers and smallholders we have worked with over the past 10 years. Their passion and commitment have made it a great success. A big chunk of new native woodland has been created, and trees are now a firm part of crofting culture going forward. The partnership behind the first two phases is now over, but the croft woodlands team at Woodland Trust Scotland will continue to offer the service.”
Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) chief executive Donna Smith said:
“The Croft Woodland Project has been a fantastic resource for crofters, and I know so many that have found the support and advice of the project staff invaluable. Many crofters are not sure where to start, where and what to plant or where to source finance, but the project team are there to help them and do an amazing job.
"With much more focus now around integrated land management and agroecology, their advice will continue to be so important, enabling crofters to make the best choices for their land. SCF are delighted that this service will be continuing and we look forward to our continuing relationship with the croft woodlands team.”
Scottish Forestry Highlands and Islands conservator John Risby said:
“The Croft Woodlands Project has been a huge success. It has been actively engaging with crofters throughout the crofting counties from Shetland to Argyll with particular success in the Western Isles. The project has helped overcome the barriers faced by crofters and tapped into a huge amount of enthusiasm for trees and woodlands, and provided support to make great things happen. The results can be seen across the crofting landscape as new native woodlands establish.”
Crofting is a system of small-scale food production unique to the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Designed to protect the indigenous people from exploitation by landlords in the 19th century, crofting today helps maintain communities and economic activity in remote areas. It has had little tradition of woodland management. Until the 1991 Crofter Forestry Act, woodland ownership and management rights were reserved for landowners, not their crofting tenants.
The Croft Woodlands Project was a partnership lead by Woodland Trust Scotland that aimed to engage crofters and smallholders to create and manage woodland on their holdings, in light of the Crofter Forestry Act’s provisions. Trees on crofts bring multiple benefits including shelter for livestock and buildings, a boost to biodiversity and fodder for animals and firewood.
Initial partners included the Scottish Crofting Federation, Scottish Forestry (formerly Forestry Commission Scotland), Coigach & Assynt Living Landscapes (CALL), Point & Sandwick Trust and the Woodland Croft Partnership. Several other organisations joined, including Shetland Amenity Trust, Orkney Woodlands Project, and Communities Housing Trust.
The croft woodlands team offer free advice and support to crofters, common grazings committees, smallholders and communities within the crofting counties. Advisers carry out site assessments, offer technical advice and assist with access to funding. Advice mainly focuses on new woodland planting but also includes management of existing woodland. One of the six advisers provides specialist advice and guidance on ancient woodland restoration and expansion in Scotland’s rainforest zone.
In the past 10 years the Croft Woodlands Project has received 2,255 enquiries and advisers have made 1,965 site visits. It has delivered 1,011.02 hectares of new woodland through 187 schemes accessing the standard Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS).
A further 488 smaller schemes totalling 155.47 hectares have been steered through the Woodland Trust’s MOREwoods grants. 20.5km of new hedgerow has been created. Small sites, or sites which are suitable for woodland creation but don’t fit the FGS model, are offered help through the Woodland Trust’s MOREwoods scheme.
A total of 75 training events attended by almost 1,400 participants were organised to give people woodland management skills.
Access to finance is one of the key barriers to delivery of forestry projects on crofts. FGS grants are paid in arrears once works are completed. To ease cashflow problems, a Croft Woodlands Bridging Loan Fund was established in 2017. The bridging loan scheme was administered by the Communities Housing Trust (CHT) and offered interest-free bridging loans of up to £6,000 (from an available fund of £60,000) to pay for the establishment costs of FGS schemes. The loans were repaid from the first FGS claim. Since 2017, CHT has provided 23 loans through the scheme.
In 2021, Scottish Forestry introduced the Small Woodland Loan Scheme (SWLS) to assist with the delivery of schemes under 50ha, offering a 50% upfront payment on approval of an FGS contract for capital items of up to a maximum of £40,000.
In 2017, as part of the Scotland’s Natural Larder initiative, the Croft Woodlands Project teamed up with NatureScot, Scottish Crofting Federation and Pam Rodway to offer schools and community groups in the crofting counties the opportunity to apply for hedgerow jelly packs. The packs provide enough hedgerow plants to create a small section of hedge, plus teaching resources in Gaelic and English. These included a recipe to make jelly from the resulting crop of berries. Over 1,000m of hedgerow has been created.
The importance of matching local provenance trees to maximise survival and establishment has been a cornerstone of the Croft Woodlands Project. This was a particular challenge at the start of the project, when few suppliers were growing stock from the more remote locations. Those that did were producing small numbers of trees that were in high demand. Interest in growing trees at a small scale has increased over the past 10 years with small new tree nurseries establishing throughout Scotland. The Croft Woodlands Project has played a major role in driving the growth of this sector, providing support and advice via a professional nurseryman and supporting provision of training courses and workshops.
A milestone croft woodland conference was held in Boat of Garten in 2019, when a definitive handbook on managing trees on crofts was published.
Partners and funders
Over the past 10 years, the Croft Woodlands Project has been supported by numerous partners and funders. Generous financial support has been provided by Point & Sandwick Trust, Scottish Forestry, players of People’s Postcode Lottery, TK Maxx and Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Orkney Woodland Project and Shetland Amenity Trust have delivered the croft woodland project on the Northern Isles. The Communities Housing Trust has taken on all responsibility for administering the Croft Woodland Bridging Loan. The Scottish Crofting Federation and Argyll Small Woodlands Co-op have assisted with the delivery of the Croft Woodland Project training programme.
In addition to the partners mentioned above, other organisations have provided guidance and support throughout the project, including: Woodland Croft Partnership, Community Woodland Association, NatureScot, Crofting Commission, Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Partnership, National Farmers Union of Scotland and Cairngorms National Park. The Croft Woodlands Project has also received several generous donations over the past 10 years from individual supporters.
Notes to editors
For further information contact George Anderson on 07900 891691.
About the Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK with more than 500,000 supporters. With a vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, today the Trust owns and cares for more than 1,000 woodland sites, covering around 33,000 hectares.
The Woodland Trust has three key aims:
- protecting the UK's rare, unique and irreplaceable ancient woodland
- restoring damaged ancient woodland, nurturing precious pieces of our natural heritage back to life
- establishing new native trees and woods to create healthy, resilient landscapes for people and wildlife.
Access to all Woodland Trust woods is free so everyone can experience the physical and mental benefits of trees.