— What we're up to —
Tree Planting & Maintenance
Our main objective at Uigshader Woodland is to establish native woodland over much of what was, for a long time, a commercial sitka plantation. We are working alongside Forestry & Land Scotland to develop a suitable plan for the creation and management of such a woodland. We will be seeking to introduce new habitats such as riparian and peatland edge woodland.
Fence Building
Having been trained by Pete Crawford, the team at Uigshader set about the grand task of constructing the necessary 6 kilometres (!) of deer fence required to protect our future trees and protect the peat bog from the grazing pressure from neighbouring sheep, cattle, red and roe deer.
Peatbog Restoration
A survey carried out in 2019 identified a significant section of the Uigshader Woodland site contained deep peat. Currently the team are pursuing a restoration programme with the assistance of Peatland Action for these deep peat areas.
Developing Woodland Infrastructure
Uigshader Living Forest Project have, since taking responsibility for the woodland, been working to develop infrastructure across the site to assist with continued sustainable development and management. The Bridge which now spans the Lon an Eireannaich, The river that cuts the land in two, was designed by Bill (Lupus Engineering) and built by a lot of volunteer labour. Our next ambition is to build a workshop which could house a sawmill.
Sustainability
We're constantly creating and developing new and interesting ways to be more sustainable on site. From small scale solar and wind installations to help keep lights on and charge our tools, to using food waste to create nutritious fertiliser for our small veg garden (with a little help from a few worms). A small geodome greenhouse was built in spring 2020 to experiment with what could potentially be grown in the climate of Skye. Rain water collection with a reed bed filtration system. Composting Toilet where by the urine is diverted to add nutrients to the soil and a system in place to decompose the solids which will provide invaluable fertiliser for our young tree saplings. When on site we heat ourselves by firewood collected from the mass quantities of already harvested brush, this is also used to heat our woodfired bath and when the weather suits we can cook our meals with it too.