PLANS for a major new pinewood restoration project in the Highlands have been given the go-ahead with an agreement to sell 2,700 acres of publicly owned woodland for half a million pounds.

A community group in partnership with charity Trees for Life will buy the woods at Glen Mallie and South Loch Arkaig to the west of Loch Lochy and the great Glen from Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS).

They say it marks a "major milestone" in restoring the ecologically important but rare native Caledonian Pinewood habitat.

The Achnacarry, Bunarkaig and Clunes (ABC) Group and Trees for Life have 18 months to raise £500,000 to buy the land. After they will begin restoring native woodland and the links between the local community and the wild and remote country on the south side of Loch Arkaig.