Loch Katrine Woodland Creation and Peatland Restoration
Project overview
In partnership with long-term tenant Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), we are helping to create one of Europe’s largest new woodlands at our Loch Katrine estate and protect water supplies for generations to come.
Scottish Forestry approved the10-year Land Management Plan (LMP) for the 9,500 hectares of land surrounding the loch in 2024, which will see the lands surrounding the loch boost the fight against the climate crisis by locking up more carbon and improving the resilience of the catchment to climate change.
Plans for the land at Loch Katrine include the restoration and maintenance of several hundred hectares of peatland across the site, as well as the creation of over 4,600 hectares – the equivalent of more than 6440 football pitches – of native woodland, largely through rewilding and natural regeneration.
The land is occupied and managed by FLS and located in the heart of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park (LLTNP).
At a Glance
- Woodland creation and peatland restoration project
- One of Europe's largest new woodlands
- Protecting water supplies for generations to come
Loch Katrine
The project will see the creation of over 4,600 hectares of native woodland - the equivalent of more than 6440 football pitches.
What we are doing
Future woodland creation at Loch Katrine will look at encouraging native woodlands, which currently exist at lower levels in the catchment, to expand to sites at a higher elevation – linking woodland from the shores of the loch up into the hills.
Work will also focus on restoring peatland across the site, rewetting, reprofiling and encouraging sphagnum moss to proliferate ensuring it can once again start to retain water and slow surface water run-off into the loch, as well as acting as a carbon sink.
You can find more detail in the Land Management Plan.
Why we are doing it
It is anticipated that delivering these actions will see a 40 per cent increase in the status of biodiversity across the site, as well as capturing up to 1 million tonnes of carbon over 60 years.
It is also key in helping to protect the quality and resilience of the water supply at the loch in the face of a changing climate. Restoring natural woodland and encouraging healthy, functioning peatland and moorland will make the landscape more resilient to climate change, helping to stabilise soils, hold more water and slow the runoff from the land.
This results in less organic matter being washed into the loch and on to the water treatment works - a growing issue thanks to more extreme rainfall caused by climate change - and ensures the water can continue to be treated to the high standards customers expect.
