Knoydart Forest Trust
environment. Resilience. Regeneration.
STAY WITH US
Looking after Knoydart’s woodlands
Knoydart Forest Trust (KFT) works with the Knoydart Foundation and other landowners to regenerate Knoydart’s woodlands to benefit the environment, the community and wider public now and in the future.
Community owned and managed woodland
KFT was set up by the community in the late 1990s and formally established as a company limited by guarantee with charitable status on 5 March 1999, just before the community buy out.
KFT and the Knoydart Foundation are separate community companies but work in partnership through a management agreement to achieve shared goals.
KFT is run by a board of directors who are elected by the resident community membership. We have 6 directors who are volunteers. There are around 70 members.
We employ 5 local people all year round and provide short term employment for a number of local subcontractors.
Our work is led by our woodland management and forest plans which are developed in consultation with the community and other stakeholders.
What we do
We look after 919 hectares of woodland and establish new woodlands on community owned land.
Since 1999 we have planted over 500,000 trees and created over 300 hectares of new woodland.
New Woodlands
Our vision is to link woodland habitats across the peninsula from Loch Nevis to Loch Hourn, creating stepping stones for plants and wildlife. This will support biodiversity and the resilience of the habitat, and address global climate change issues.
Over the next 5 years we are establishing 4 new woodlands on community owned land – Mary Ann’s, Ben’s, Abhainn Bheag and Coire Sgreucha – a total of 193 hectares and over a quarter of a million trees.
Through our trading subsidiary Wood Knoydart CIC, we work with neighbouring landowners to support woodland creation on privately owned land.
Looking after our woodlands
Trees and woodland play an important role in safeguarding biodiversity by providing a patchwork of wildlife rich habitats to form the building blocks of an ecologically sustainable landscape. We manage our established woodlands to increase biodiversity and to provide a useful resource to the local community and future generations. This includes Rhododendron ponticum eradication, restructuring aging conifer plantations around Inverie and replacing with diverse mix of tree species, thinning, deadwood management and woodland deer management.
Adding value to our timber
Our woodlands are a valuable community resource. By adding value to our timber we can reinvest in the woodland and local economy, providing local employment and skills development and reducing our community’s carbon footprint. The forest workshop is our base for making the most of our timber, here we process and sell firewood, milled timber and, through our trading subsidiary Wood Knoydart, handcraft a range of small wood products and host green woodworking workshops.
Sharing the woodland experience
So that you can explore and enjoy our woods we have created a network of paths and tracks that we maintain. There are lots of things to see and do in the woods, whether you just like to stroll and take in nature or like to be a bit more adventurous. We have a red and blue mountain bike trail, benches and shelters and sculptures throughout the woods in Inverie and the outlying woodlands offer unique landscapes, vistas and experiences.
Find out more
To find out more about us and how you can support Knoydart’s community owned woodlands please visit our website www.knoydartforesttrust.org
Knoydart Forest Trust is a Scottish Charity (No:SCO292274)& Company Limited by Guarantee (No:194055)
Wood Knoydart CIC (No: SC445886) is the wholly owned trading subsidiary of KFT
Find out more
Tour enquiries: ranger@knoydart.org - 07404977331
Accommodation enquiries: stay@knoydart.org - 01687 347422 or 07448 384984
Shop enquiries: shop@knoydart.org - 01687 347002
General enquiries: operations@knoydart.org - 01687 462242
Knoydart Foundation, Knoydart Trading Ltd and Knoydart Renewables - Foundation Office - Inverie - Knoydart - PH41 4PL Registered in Scotland SC171248 Charity Limited by Guarantee SC026246 All content on this website is copyright of the Knoydart Foundation.
