IT is one of Scotland’s most dramatic castles, sitting high on a rocky outcrop looking out over the sea.

Now a Clan chief has received a £1million grant to re-wild his estate surrounding Dunvegan Castle on Skye, in an attempt to transform the “beautiful but not natural” area with a major new broadleaf forest.

Hugh Macleod, the head of the clan, hopes the medieval fortress will overlook a landscape filled with native trees, red squirrels and beavers.

His project has just received a £1 million grant from the Scottish Government and European Union.

A total of 371,875 trees will be planted, with different species mixtures to suit the land’s terrain and ecology. The carbon offset is estimated to exceed 40,000 tons

over a 65-year period.

Instead of the pine forests that have come to cover much of Scotland, the focus will be on planting trees that used to grow on the fertile peat soil, including birch, rowan, cherry, willow, hawthorn and sycamore.

The MacLeod Estate’s new native woodland creation scheme has been more than a year-and-a-half in development. It is being overseen by Scottish Woodlands Ltd, which will plant the scheme on the estate’s behalf by the end of 2021.

It is the first phase of the MacLeod Estate’s evolving rewilding strategy which Mr MacLeod, estate director, has been working on for the last few years.

It is one of the most ambitious projects of its kind on the Isle of Skye, with this first phase focusing on transforming the marginal land of Dunvegan’s former home farm, Totachocaire, into a 240 hectare native woodland area that will be treble the size of the existing contiguous woodlands around Dunvegan Castle & Gardens.

Nearly 372,000 trees will be planted with different species mixtures to suit the land’s terrain and ecology.

This is in addition to the 60,000 native trees planted by the estate in 2010, to replace a monoculture coniferous plantation dating back to the post-war years, with further rewilding and peatbog restoration plans in development.

As one of the largest native woodland projects on Skye, this will bring the total number of native trees planted on the MacLeod Estate since 2010 to 432,000.

Mr MacLeod said: “This is a modest start, but our sincere hope is this will encourage others to take on rewilding initiatives to restore Skye’s unnatural “wet desert” landscape, which is a legacy of centuries of depredation caused by over grazing.

“In common with other Highland areas, some aspects of Skye’s current lunarscape appearance may be beautiful, but it is not natural. The extensive peatbog on the island is clear evidence of ancient and extensive woodlands.

“This project aims to restore this piece of marginal land and we hope that it will have a positive ripple effect on the local community

beyond the obvious ecological benefits, creating more jobs in sustainable ecotourism and more re-wilding initiatives to help combat climate change.

“In a difficult year of persistent bad news, I am thrilled the MacLeod Estate has been awarded this grant for one of the largest and most ambitious native woodland creation projects on Skye.

“I had the idea more than 10 years ago, when I decided to stop farming at the estate’s Totachocaire Farm, which is not only marginal land, but was also loss-making for almost every year of its operation since it was revived by my late father in the 1970s.

“This is the first phase of our nascent re-wilding plans and once the woodlands are established, this will create an extensive and biodiverse habitat to support a number of native species.”

Ben Goldsmith, a well-known environmentalist and chief executuive of Menhaden, a London-listed investment firm that focuses on

energy and resource efficiency, said: “Politicians, communities and landowners across Britain are coming to the realisation that restoring the terribly depleted natural fabric of our landscapes offers a pathway for ecological, economic and social renewal.

“Hugh MacLeod’s groundbreaking nature restoration project at the historic Dunvegan Castle is one of the most exciting re-wilding stories in Britain today.”

John Laing, chairman of Dunvegan and District Community Council, said: “We are all aware of the many benefits woodlands bring to our wellbeing and increasingly to our environment and wildlife. The new woodland will, in time, be a tremendous asset for Dunvegan and for Skye. It will bring pleasure and enjoyment for locals and visitors for generations to come.”

Sarah-Jane Laing, chief executive of Scottish Land & Estates, added: “This scheme is testament to Hugh’s vision, drive and ongoing commitment to an environmentally and economically sustainable future, not only for the estate but for Skye and the whole

of Scotland.

“SLE members, such as the MacLeod Estate, continue to be at the forefront of innovative and progressive land management.”