Lost Woods and Woodland Creation on a family estate in the Highlands
A family-run estate in the Highlands comprising 5,300 hectares (ha) of rural land has undergone a transformation in the last thirty years towards creating and restoring more native woodland on the landholding.
The family engaged Zulu Ecosystems to co-design a ‘Lost Woods’ project to protect as much of the existing ancient woodland as possible, allowing native trees to grow and flourish through natural regeneration. A new native woodland creation scheme has been developed on adjacent land which will support species enrichment and biodiversity enhancement in the long term.
Zulu Ecosystems first used proprietary technology to map the estate and rapidly evaluate its potential for restoration, as well as understand its eligibility for the Woodland Carbon Code (WCC), the UK's voluntary carbon standard.
Previously, only woodland creation projects were suitable for the WCC and the Lost Woods project is one of the first projects of its kind in the UK.
Thanks to work done over the last two years in conjunction with the Woodland Carbon Code (WCC), the UK's voluntary carbon standard, there is a new way to leverage investment finance to help restore and regenerate declining ancient woodlands.
Previously, only woodland creation projects were eligible for the WCC. But now, remnant sites with less than 20 percent woodland cover remaining, along with evidence of browsed regeneration, are eligible for carbon credits in the same way as woodland creation projects.
This change provides land managers with a more financially viable route to unlock income streams from restoring and protecting Lost Woods whilst saving the remnants of our ecological inheritance from further decline.
This means that restoration of Lost Woods could replace income from commercial sport stalking activities over the same land. This would necessarily involve a transition of the traditional stalker and gamekeeper roles, but the skill sets they have are not only transferable, but essential, in managing landscapes for regeneration of nature.
Once detailed project scoping, extensive ground truthing, close collaboration with the landowner, community, and stakeholders, and project implementation were complete, we initiated the validation of carbon credits under the WCC.
Our low-input, low-risk approach to 'Lost Woods' and ancient woodland regeneration is set to drive premium biodiversity benefits, all while providing the landowner with a sustainable income stream. Together, it is set to play a vital role in the natural regeneration of the Caledonian Pinewoods and other native ancient woodlands.