Reopening the bothy officially with the Clan Chisholm sash are, from left, Trees for Life chief executive Steve Micklewright; forest district manager Graeme Prest of Forest Enterprise Scotland; Vanessa Collingridge; Alan Watson Featherstone.
A remote derelict bothy has been brought back to life as a base for a major conservation project in the Highlands.
The Athnamulloch shelter will be used by Trees for Life for workers on its rewilding project to extend the Caledonian forest towards the west coast.
The organisation has signed a 25-year-lease on the Glen Affric bothy with Forest Enterprise Scotland. The bothy has been renovated to a high ecological standard while retaining its rustic character.
A kitchen, living room, bedrooms, drying room, wood burning stoves, composting toilet and a bathroom with eco-friendly energy and water systems have been installed, new timbers and flooring have replaced rotten woodwork, and a porch now provides for drier entry into the building, which is crucial given the area’s very wet climate.
Trees for Life said it is now launching its Back to Our Roots initiative from Athnamulloch Bothy. In partnership with Forest Enterprise Scotland, this will extend the native Caledonian forest beyond its current stronghold in the East of the glen towards Scotland’s west coast, creating a continuous corridor of woodland across this part of the Highlands, and providing habitats for many species long lost from these deforested landscapes.
About 100 people gathered at the remote Athnamulloch Bothy – which lies west of Loch Affric, on the national forest estate managed by Forest Enterprise Scotland – on Sunday 29 May to celebrate the building’s £137,000 renovation, which has been funded by donations and grants.
Broadcaster, writer and Trees for Life patron Vanessa Collingridge officially reopened the bothy by unfurling a ceremonial sash featuring the tartan of Clan Chisholm, whose traditional homelands include Glen Affric.
Environmental education charity Wild things! laid on activities for children, and guests were enjoyed behind-the-scenes tours and a guided walk to the first trees planted by Trees for Life in 1991.
Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s founder, said: “Saving Athnamulloch Bothy from dereliction – and giving it an exciting new lease of life as a base for conservation volunteering to help rewild one of Scotland’s great natural areas – represents a new era for our restoration of the Caledonian Forest in Glen Affric’s western reaches.
“Our sincere thanks go to everyone who has helped make this project succeed. We can now embark on ambitious large-scale forest restoration work in partnership with Forest Enterprise Scotland, in which our volunteers will plant another 250,000 trees – extending Glen Affric’s endangered forests westwards, and creating crucial forest corridors and habitats for rare wildlife.”
Until the bothy became unsafe and was closed in 2008, Trees for Life’s volunteers used it for 17 years as a base for planting the first new Scots pines to grow in the area for centuries. With significant tree planting in the remote location virtually impossible without a place for volunteers to stay, the conservation charity undertook an ambitious fundraising drive to save the bothy.
In a major boost, almost half the costs were covered by a £60,000 award from the Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund, part of the Scottish Government’s Commonwealth Games Legacy 2014 programme.
Trees for Life secured the remaining funds through its Build the Bothy public appeal, fronted by broadcaster and wildlife filmmaker Gordon Buchanan, and further grants, including £20,000 from the Moray-based Gordon and Ena Baxter Foundation, £15,000 from The Robertson Trust, £10,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation and £1,000 from the James Thin Charitable Trust.
The organisation said Highland Council was also helpful in enabling a building in such a remote location to meet modern stringent building control standards.
The charity is seeking to raise £18,000 through its Back to Our Roots appeal, to fund the first phase of the tree planting and habitat creation, and to help achieve its ambition to establish one million more trees by planting and natural regeneration across the Highlands by 2018.
More details are on the Trees for Life website.
