It’s been a fantastic couple of weekends at Gillies Hill Community Woodland, with more than 50 volunteers coming together to make a real difference.
Together, we planted around 1,000 native trees in the upper SPHN replanting area, including Aspen, Oak, Elm, and Scots Pine—helping to create a more diverse and resilient woodland for the future. Alongside the planting, a brilliant group of young volunteers got stuck in and even built two woodland dens.
We were also delighted to welcome children from Cambusbarron Village Nursery, who spent a morning planting trees and learning about the importance of caring for their local environment—an inspiring glimpse of the next generation of woodland stewards.
As always, sustainability has remained at the heart of the project throughout, with biodegradable tree tubes used to protect the saplings and stakes milled on-site from larch felled from this part of the woodland.
This achievement marks the completion of the three-year SPHN replanting project, which has seen around 3,000 trees planted in total.
But the journey doesn’t end here. Looking ahead, our focus will shift to the Dark Woods, where preparations for the next phase of replanting are already underway. Some initial planting using surplus saplings has begun, setting the stage for another busy season later this year.
A huge thank you to the International Tree Foundation (ITF) who has provided generous grant funding for this project, and to all the volunteers who have given their time and energy —we can’t wait to see nature flourish in this special part of the woodland.
