They have a lineage stretching back to Scotland’s ice age.
However, the country’s prized Caledonian pinewoods are on a “knife-edge” and face the threat of being the last generation, an environmental charity has warned.
In the first study in more than 60 years examining the health of the trees, Scotland’s national tree, the Scots pine, was found to be in serious decline at a quarter of the more than 1,200 half-acre plots analysed.
High deer numbers, spread of non-native conifers, lack of long-term management, and emerging impacts of climate breakdown are major threats to the pinewoods’ survival, the four-year study carried out by rewilding charity Trees for Life found.
Urgent action needs to include dedicated and easily accessible long-term funding, so private landowners can save and restore their pinewoods and look after them in the future, the charity said.
It is also calling for full implementation of proposed national measures to reduce deer numbers, as well as action to allow the pinewoods to expand into cooler areas such as higher up mountains to tackle to climate change.
READ MORE: How gardeners can boost wildlife and help threatened species
Steve Micklewright, Trees for Life’s chief executive, said: “Our findings are an alarm bell for Scotland’s Caledonian pinewoods, which are such an important part of the country’s culture and environment.
“The majority of the surviving fragments are now on a knife-edge, and bold action is needed to save them from being lost forever.
“A landscape-scale approach backed by the Scottish Government is urgently needed to save, expand and connect up these precious woodlands before it is too late.”
The Caledonian forest once covered much of the Highlands, but after centuries of deforestation only 2% remains.
James Rainey, Trees for Life’s senior ecologist, who led the study, added: “In the worst cases, the pinewoods have suffered non-native conifer planting or fire followed by grazing pressure, with the impacts of climate breakdown a growing threat.
“These pinewoods should be playing a key role in Scotland’s fight-back against the climate and nature emergencies, but right now most are on their last legs.
READ MORE: Scotland's ancient trees catalogued for first time
“It’s not too late to turn this around, but that means seriously stepping-up restoration and rewilding action.”
The study’s findings will be used by Trees for Life to develop a follow-up project with landowners and land managers for practical action to protect, expand and reconnect the most threatened pinewoods.
It comes as efforts are being made to save what remains of Scotland’s rainforests.
Figures show as little as 30,000 hectares remain – just 2% of the country’s woodland, despite climatic conditions being suitable for five times this area of cover.
There are a number of reasons for this decline but chief amongst them is over-grazing, mostly by the red, roe and sika deer that eat young tree seedlings and prevent the woodlands from regenerating.
Another major threat is the smothering effect of Rhododendron ponticum, a species that was transplanted to Scotland in the 18th century as cover for game birds and went rogue, colonising every patch of bare ground.
NatureScot manages some of the best areas of rainforest as National Nature Reserves, and is collaborating with other organisations and communities up and down the west coast to develop and support a range of other conservation projects.
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