Restoration is possible: the hunt for Scotland's ancient wild pinewoods

Trees for Life and Woodland Trust Scotland hope to revive remote pockets of forgotten forest before they vanishJames Rainey reads trees like most people read signposts.The senior ecologist with the rewilding charity Trees for Life is using a small hand lens to identify a particular lichen that is wreathing the base of an aspen tree in a secluded glen on the west coast of Scotland. He is looking for "ecological clues" of species associated with the ancient Caledonian forest that once covered most of the Highlands, like this aspen, certain wildflowers, such as serrated wintergreen, and some lichens, such as black-eyed Susan and Norwegian specklebelly. Continue reading...