Our Projects

We were happy to be invited back to Ballintean this winter for some very snowy hedgerow creation along the boundary of two farms in Glen Feshie. We first constructed a new fence that runs parallel with the existing boundary for 200 meters to give the saplings adequate cattle defence. Next we began planting the mix of native shrubs and trees between the two fences, consisting of blackthorn, hawthorn, dog rose, aspen, and others. These trees were provided by the very local RiverTrees Nursery, who we cant recommend enough. In total we planted 1005 plants in a random mosaic-based fashion, which will provide important habitat for many bird, insect, and mammal species, and produce food for all the above through the changing Glen Feshie seasons. 

We have been helping the landowners at Sauchie Home Farm create a Rewilding plan for the future of their site, including the best interventions for the wildlife of the area. This has been followed by native tree planting across the site, helped by a large group of volunteers who came to help expand the woodland cover and tree diversity on the farm. We are currently working with SBP on the next phase of work for this site.

We have been commissioned to create a set of Native Habitat Starters 'NHS' at Kinkel Byre Farm, near St Andrews. This will aim to reintroduce missing tree, shrub, wildflower and fungi species in small islands to create pockets of native habitat. Given time these should spread, and kickstart healthy habitat creation at Kinkell. 

At our native tree nursery: Tay Valley Trees, we have been working to conserve our local Aspen populations in Highland Perthshire. This involves taking careful cuttings from existing remnants of old Aspen individuals across the area and growing their clones on in our ''Aspen Grove'' so that we have a supply of genetic material to fuel future rewilding projects without needing to harvest from the orginal stand multiple times. Additionally we have created a diverse stand of individuals that will hopefully produce genetically valuable seed for Perthshire in the near future!

During this stage of Glassie's Nature Restoration Fund, we are converting a poor quality horse paddock into a rich mosaic of meadow flowers, woodland edge species, and butterfly foodplants, greatly increasing the biodiversity and available habitat for pollinators at Glassie. 

Keeping our process sustainable and non-polluting is a key feature of this projects. We will be using a mixture of hand processes and disturbance via pigs to keep this project nature friendly and low impact on our climate.

To add to our previous work installing leaky dams at the site we selected target locations for wild flower reintroductions after a history of grazing has left the area species poor, compared to what it might be naturally. We used a mixture of wild translocations, plugs plants, and seed mixtures to introduce plant species missing from the farm that we would expect to see growing here naturally. 

We created 12 Seed Islands across Torlundy Farm, a member of Loch Abar Mor. This will provide a source of native seed across the farm and introduce missing species. The majority of these were on the banks of the River Lochy, which will improve the health of the river, riparian zone and flood plain. 

We built 15 leaky dams in five locations on a tributary to the River Feshie at Ballintean. On our site visit we found the watercourse was once straightened and acted to drain the area minimising wetlands leaving little space for water. After our work the burn will store water, and have a diversity of flows and depths, which adds flood and drought resistance and hosts numerous diverse habitats. This will be enhanced by wildflower restoration work planned to take place at Ballintean, introducing lost plant species to increase the biodiversity and available habitats on the site.

We have been tasked with designing a wildflower restoration plan for West Moss-side Farm. We have undertaken surveys and identified a low floral diversity block of planting. This area will be targeted for wildflower seeding and direct translocations to boost the species richness and make a more complete woodland habitat. 

We have been tasked with designing a wildflower restoration plan for Argaty Red Kites. We have undertaken surveys and identified five areas of low floral diversity which would greatly benefit from local wildflower reintroductions. These areas will be targeted for wildflower seeding and direct translocations to boost the species richness and make a more complete woodland habitat. 

We were comissioned by the Tireragan Trees Trust to undertake surveys of the Tireragan Estate to determine woodland extent, make-up and locate rare tree species. We vsisted over 50 areas of woodland, and identified new locations for Juniper and Aspen. We are currently processing this data and drone imagery to produce a planting plan and seed collection maps.

We created eight Native Habitat Starters along the banks of the River Isla on Northwoods Rewilding Network member Drummuir Estate - with a focus on wetland species to help develop a healthier floodplain in the valley, capable of supporting a beaver population as they spread from the nearby Spey catchment. 

These contain Aspen, Willows, Birches, and Alders, with over 20 species of wet meadow flowers, rushes, and grasses, added in via large scrapes in the ex-agricultural ground.

We installed two seed islands in an ex-agricultural field on the flood plain of the River Earn. These are to be planted with an assemblage of native trees by the land owner this season. The islands will protect the trees from grazing pressures in the area and allow them to start natural tree regeneration in the area in as little as 10 years.

We were commissioned by future trees trust to maintain a plot of trial birch trees. These native trees are specially selected to be suitable for commercial forestry, replacing non-native species, and this trial will help progress this. We ensured conditions for all trees were kept equal and will result in a reliable and accurate trial.