Dead trees blight once-green Inchtavannach Island

Yet now it's green canopy is broken by bleached white and rotting brown, as the branches of hundreds of trees which were killed off en masse just through the leaves, while the slopes leading up from the shore are littered with the mossy carcasses of once-mature giants that now lie broken on in the mud.

Stark white branches cut through the greenery

If it had been the result of an infestation or disease, such a sudden die-off would have rung alarm bells the length of Scotland, with scientists rushing to the scene to establish the culprit.

But no investigation was needed, as the death of the island's beech trees came on the orders of the organisation charged with protecting Scotland's wild places.

Five years ago, a programme launched by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) saw the wholesale poisoning of hundreds of beech trees on Inchtavannach, sparking a row which has seen the quango at loggerheads with the island's owner Luss Estates.

READ MORE: Natural heritage body ‘sorry’ for killing island’s 300 beech trees

And while SNH has since apologised, questions remain over why the cull was carried out, and why to date no-one has been punished for an act the landowner Sir Malcolm Colquhoun believes was wanton environmental destruction.

Five years ago, anyone travelling along the west bank of Loch Lomond would have looked out on Inchtavannach's unbroken canopy of green during the summer, as the mature and fruitful woods burst into life.

Yet in 2015 all that changed. When the island's trees began to bloom, instead of the vibrant colours of nature at full swing the vista was broken by patches of withered brown leaves - dead zones among a . It was clear something had gone badly wrong with the island's ecology.

Sir Malcolm Colquhoun

Sir Malcolm, 71, recalls spotting the dead trees while sailing on the Loch on his boat.

He said: "My reaction was one of absolute horror. I could not believe what had happened.

“It’s a very beautiful island. I think a lot of the planting of the beech trees was done deliberately 200-250 years ago by whoever was the Laird at the time, one of my ancestors.

“These trees did not happen by accident. It was very beautiful to look at. A lovely lace to visit. To see it devastated like that is very upsetting.”

It emerged that forestry workers who had been brought in by SNH to clear invasive species such as rhododendron and bracken and overstepped their remit and turned their chainsaws on the island's mature beech trees.

Cutting deep grooves into each one they found, the workers killed the trees by pouring the poison glyphosate directly into the trunk. Once this was done there was nothing which could save Inchtavannach's crop of beeches, though the damage wouldn't become apparent until the next year when their branches bore not leaves.

One tree was saved

Down at the island's jetty, one magnificent beech survived the cull - a mature giant which was saved by Inchtavannach's sole tenant Mr Roy Rogers, who refused to let the tree be poisoned. It is now likely that this beech is the oldest to remain on the island, and one of the last.

Inchtavannach island is an ancient place, with a history which dates back to the spread of Celtic Christianity in Scotland during the Dark Ages after the Romans left Britain.

READ MORE: Scots heritage quango sued over "poisoning" of hundreds of ancient trees​

Known as Monk's Island, the wooded enclave was reputedly the home of St Kessog, a missionary from Ireland in the sixth century who spread the gospels to the pagan Scots and established a monastery there.

One of the largest island in the loch, it is also home to the waterway's highest point - Tom nan Clag - where monks are said to have once rung a bell to announce the call to prayer.

Today Mr Rogers is the only resident, providing physiotherapy to injured horses at his small farmstead reputedly built on the ruins of the monastery. A number of the animals are kept at a stables near his house, and some are a familiar site as they swim in the loch or are rode in the forest.

Once-thriving beech trees now rot where they stand

The loch's otters are frequent visitors and it was once home to caparcaillie, the largest member of the grouse family, although these have now died out.

The island's tranquil isolation is by design. Inchtavannach is part of a Special Conservation Area, and is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which should have preserved the island's beeches and saved them from the axe.

But today only the carcasses of around 400 trees remain. Some have been felled and lie as logs on the ground, awaiting removal from the island. The timescale for this remains a matter of dispute.

Others still stand, stark ghost trees rotting where they once grew. These will be left alone, because it would cause more damage to the environment to bring in the necessary machinery to cut them down than it would to leave them as they are.

Trees lie tangled on the ground

Eventually, nature will take its course and the trees return to the soil, although this is likely to take decades.

Sir Malcolm, 71, said that the beeches' fate was sealed because SNH does not believe they are native to Scotland, although at what point something becomes a Scottish species remains obscure.

Sir Malcolm said: “The ostensible reason was that they wanted to remove what they regard as non-native species, in an effort to return the ancient woodlands to the state of purity they enjoyed thousands of years ago.

“It seems to me that SNH has decided, for whatever reason, to return it to that state. It is simply extraordinary, and at one stage I’m given to understand that SNH said that beech trees were planted in Roman times.”

READ MORE: Estates owner accuses conservation quango of "wanton vandalism" after island beech trees poisoned​

He added that this Imperial heritage means beech trees are unwelcome invaders, in the eyes of SNH's scientists.

The work to carve up the trees which can be taken away will be carried out by the government organisation, who earlier this year admitted it was at fault after legal action was launched by the estate.

After much wrangling, SNH has also agreed to carry out the work and pay some of Luss Estate's legal costs, as well as make a public apology.

But nothing can be done to bring the dead trees back, and it will be generations before Inchtavannach is once again home to fully-grown beeches, and their vibrant greenery and warm autumn browns can be glimpsed from the shore.

Sir Malcolm said: "It’s very clear that they can’t bring the trees back to life. So what is done is done. The apology they have given is welcome, but I still very much get the impression that they do not think they did anything wrong.

“But as far as it goes the apology is welcome and is what I asked for.”

“It’s a question of minimising the damage from here on in. The fact is that if we insisted they fell all the trees and remove them, that is going to create more damage then leaving them in situ.

“It will take hundreds of years to regenerate and it will happen naturally. At least I hope it will.”

Pics: Jamie Simpson/The Herald