NRN PARTNER: Ariundle Croft

ARIUNDLE CROFT

Location:
West Lochaber, Highland
Area Committed:
67 acres

With a backdrop of impressive peaks and overlooking Loch Sunart, Ariundle Croft is a landholding where nature has already been recovering for some time. The habitat is primarily acid grassland, with abundant bog myrtle. The southern slope features gorse, birch, holly and majestic oaks, amid rocky outcrops. The south-eastern border marches with the Ariundle Woodland National Nature Reserve and expanding this predominantly oak woodland habitat on the site is a key priority. As with many West Coast landholdings, the browsing of saplings by red deer and the ubiquitous presence of invasive rhododendron and sitka spruce remain ongoing land management challenges. 

Key rewilding commitments:

  • MORE NATIVE WOODLAND: Create ‘seed islands’ from locally sourced timber to help expand native woodland habitat.
  • MORE SPACE FOR WATER: Increase standing water on site through the use of leaky dams to retain peat moisture and benefit a wide variety of species.
  • RETURN MISSING SPECIES: Undertake woodland enrichment planting with missing tree species.
  • LET NATURE LEAD: Remove invasive non-native plant species (rhododendron ponticum and sitka spruce).

'We’re both proud and excited to be custodians of this amazing habitat mosaic. Our goal is to encourage it to be much even more nature rich than it is now.'

Chris and Dave Bowen