P3-Vol 2.No3 Dec 96 - International Journal of Wilderness

Propagation of aspen from root sections. (Photo by A.W. Featherstone.)
the nutrients they contain are retained
within the forest ecosystem instead of
being exported and not replaced.
With this threefold strategy, it is our
intention is to reestablish “islands” of
healthy young forest scattered throughout
the barren, deforested glens. As
these new trees reach seed-bearing age
they will form the nuclei for expanded
natural regeneration in the surrounding
area. While the trees in these “islands”
are growing, it will be important
to reduce the numbers of deer so
that the forest restoration process can
become self-sustaining, without the
need for further fences. At that stage,
we expect that the existing fences can
also be dismantled so that the human
intrusion into the landscape can be
minimized, enhancing the quality of
the restored wilderness. As the trees
grow, some of the other woodland species
will return by themselves. Still
other species will need to be physically
reintroduced to the regenerating forest
when the habitat can support them.
Practical
Applications
Practical work on our project began
in 1989 after several years of preparation,
when TFL volunteers protected
naturally occurring Scots pine seedlings
with plastic tubes in two forest remnants
in Glen Cannich. Safe from grazing
deer, these seedlings grew until a
larger area around them could be
fenced, and this has been done since
by the landowners of those areas. From
that small beginning, our work ex-
panded in 1990 when we
funded the fencing of an
area of 50 hectares on the
periphery of the forest
remnants in Glen Affrig,
where we operate in partnership
with Forest Enterprise,
which has its own
program for regeneration
of the Caledonian Forest.
The first area that we
fenced was the subject of a
scientific study by a student
from Edinburgh University
in 1990, just before the
fence was erected. His data
showed that in the area enclosed by the
fence there are approximately 100,000
pine seedlings, which are on average
9.9 years old (Blanchflower 1990).
Some of the seedlings were up to 27
years old but only 8.5 centimeters (3.3
inches) high, demonstrating how serious
the grazing damage has been!
Ninety-five percent of the seedlings
had sustained grazing damage, and of
the remaining 5%, the majority were
one-year-old seedlings that were too
small to be seen by the deer amongst
the surrounding heather (Blanchflower
1990). By excluding deer from that
area, seedlings inside the fence are free
to grow to maturity for the first time
in over 150 years. In 1996 we are doing
a follow-up study to evaluate the
effects of six years’ protection from grazing.
Since 1990, we have funded the
fencing of an additional four areas in
Glen Affrig, totaling 109 hectares, with
another two scheduled for the spring
of 1996. Some of these are purely for
natural regeneration of the trees that
are already there, while the others have
combined natural regeneration with
planting. To date our staff and volunteers
have planted over 100,000 trees,
mainly Scots pines, but also birch, aspen,
hazel, and goat willow (Salix caprea).
Aspen is a species that we are paying
particular attention to, as it now
rarely reproduces by seed in Scotland.
This is mainly due to the fact that its
range has been drastically reduced, and
it survives as isolated clumps of singlesexed
clones, all grown from a single
parent tree. For these clumps, often
40 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDERNESS/Volume 2, Number 3, December 1996
many kilometers apart, sexual reproduction
is virtually impossible, and the
intense grazing pressure prevents the
spread of aspen by ramets (root suckers).
For several years now we have been
mapping out the sites where aspen
grows in Glen Affrig, and each spring
since 1991 we have been collecting
root sections from the trees in some of
these sites. In a greenhouse we propagate
new plants from these roots, and
after a year we plant the resultant saplings
inside fenced enclosures in the
glen. Seeking to mimic nature as closely
as possible, we choose planting sites for
them where the conditions correspond
to those of the mature aspens in the
glen—drier south-facing areas, preferably
amongst some exposed rocks.
We plant them out in mixed clumps
of five or six trees, with each tree in
the clump coming from a different
parent stand of aspen. In doing this, we
seek to ensure that there is at least one
male and one female in each clump, so
that sexual reproduction will become
a possibility again when they reach maturity.
We are also facilitating the regeneration
of the other rare trees in
the pinewoods of Glen Affrig, including
oak (Quercus robur), juniper, hazel,
holly, and willows (Salix caprea, S. aurita).
The willows are being propagated from
branch cuttings, while we’ve been protecting
individual naturally regenerating
oak seedlings with tubes to prevent
them from being grazed by deer.
We also have begun a mapping program
for these species so that we can
chart their distribution using Geographic
Information Systems software
on our computers.
A major element of our work is our
volunteer program, in which individuals
take part in week-long work camps
out in the forest. These efforts provide
the participants with a meaningful experience
of working with others on
positive action to help restore Scotland’s
forest heritage, thereby addressing the
global problem of deforestation
through the healing of Earth. Hundreds
of people, ranging from teenagers to
70 year olds, have taken part in these
week-long volunteer efforts since 1991,
discovering that they can make a positive
contribution, with many receiving