It is hoped two sea eagle chicks will be symbols for the future of 2,500 acres of important Highland woodland which a partnership of the local community and conservationists wants to buy.
Loch Arkaig pine forest, located north of Fort William on the southern shore of the loch to the west of the Great Glen, is being sold by Forestry Commission Scotland under the National Forest Land Scheme.
This gives community organisations the chance to buy land to provide increased public value. Woodland Trust Scotland is partnering Arkaig Community Forest, a small group of local residents, to pursue ambitious plans to restore the woodland.
The chics hatched in the midst of a £4.5 million appeal to buy and restore it in the Scottish Highlands. They were named
Saorsa and Dòchas after a public vote, Gaelic for Freedom and Hope.
Gary Servant of Arkaig Community Forest said: “These chicks are a symbol of the forest’s future. We hope that by this time next year they will be soaring over a landscape where ecological and economic regeneration is well underway. We have a once in a lifetime chance to secure the future of this amazing place.”
The young birds are believed to be the grandchildren of Skye and Frisa, the sea eagle pair on Mull which featured in the earliest series of the BBC’s Springwatch programme.
The Loch Arkaig forest combines two areas of native Caledonian pine, oak and birch woodland, together comprising one of the largest remaining fragments of ancient Caledonian pinewood in Scotland.
The forest has been left degraded, a result of the clear-felling of ancient woodland in the 18th century, the planting of non-native conifers in the 1960s and grazing by sheep and deer.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel