Kingie Forest

We have begun the planting of a new 141-acre natural woodland at the company’s land at Kingie Estate.

Kingie Estate comprises of 17,500 acres of upland ground, situated in magnificent highland scenery on the north side of Glen Kingie and south side of Loch Quoich, Inverness-shire. This truly wild area exhibits some of the most beautiful and remote parts of the west coast and under our ownership, these upland landholdings have become a vehicle for environmental improvement.

The remote location of the new woodland presented a substantial logistical challenge. Fencing materials were transported to the area via helicopter and the fence was erected largely by hand as the ground was unsuitable for machine access. Mounding was then completed, the process of turning over squares of turf for each tree before the planting of 68,325 native tree species! The forest is largely made-up of Scots Pine and supplemented with hardy broadleaf species such as downy birch, rowan, eared willow, aspen, sessile oak, and common alder.

On Saturday 14th May, a group of I & H Brown staff braved typically wild west coast weather to help in the planting effort. It is fantastic to have our staff engaged in these positive environmental initiatives.

Sustainably managed woodland is hugely beneficial to the environment providing an important habitat for a wide range of wildlife and a means to sequester carbon as the woodland matures. The 141 acres of natural woodland will capture some 16,000 tonnes of carbon on the next 100 years. This new woodland supplements the existing 650 acres of woodland the company manage.

This is the first of many environmental projects I & H Brown will be delivering across its landholdings as part of a strategy to increase biodiversity and sequester carbon to fight climate change. Future projects include peatland restoration as another means of carbon sequestration on the Estate with peat surveys taking place in June.

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