COMMUNITIES in the far north of Scotland moved a step closer yesterday to realising their dream of owning a local woodland.
A management agreement struck with the Forestry Commission will see a local group run the 7760-acre Borgie Forest on Sutherland's north coast.
The deal may eventually be extended to 18,000 acres of other woodland.
Donated as a gift to the nation by the Duke of Sutherland in 1917, the land lies between Bettyhill and Tongue and is one of the oldest publiclyowned forests in Britain.
It was initially intended to allow servicemen returning from the first world war a place to live and work in the parishes of Durness, Farr and Tongue.
About 5000 acres near Skerray were divided into crofts, but were handed back to the Sutherland family in 1993 because of a condition in the original agreement.
The forest, however, was kept by the nation, and planting began in 1920 - just a year after the commission was set up to re-establish a national reserve of timber.
The North Sutherland Community Forestry Trust will now work with the commission to investigate tourism opportunities such as pony trekking and holiday chalets, a nursery and arboretum, training programmes, woodland burial sites and game-based businesses.
In an area where there is a hunger for land and accommodation, the group will also investigate the potential for creating forest smallholdings and affordable housing.
Sandy Murray, the Strath Halladale crofter who chairs the trust, said yesterday: "The dream of owning the forest is still alive and we have registered an interest under the new land-reform legislation. But the management agreement being signed is an important step forward."
Mr Murray said the group had already introduced bird boxes and picnic tables and launched a project introducing three types of berry to the woodland. There will also be a log cabin base in the forest for the trust and the local ranger.
The trust and the commission have already established a management group to bring together representatives of both organisations.
They will also work together to seek ways to enhance the benefits to the local community from existing timber operations and promote local timber.
They plan to encourage and promote the use of the forest for public recreation and interpretation, and sustainable use of the wild game in the forest.
Hugh Insley, chief executive of the commission's forest management agency, Forest Enterprise Scotland, said:
"We're delighted to sign this agreement, and we look forward to getting down to work with the trust to turn the words into reality.
"One of the priorities for action in the Scottish Executive's Scottish Forestry Strategy is to maximise the benefits from national forests to local communities.
"As we have seen with similar agreements with communities elsewhere in Scotland, this is an excellent example of one of the ways in which this can be achieved."
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