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This project successfully funded on 10th May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Save Blackford's Community Woodlands
Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, United Kingdom
Aim
Save Blackford's Community Woodlands … and Red Squirrels!
The village of Blackford, situated in southern Perthshire, Scotland, is an active community of some 1000 residents, set in an area of mixed moorland and farmland close to the foot of the Ochil Hills. It lies at a point where the country's densely-populated central belt begins to transition into the Scottish Highlands.
A high proportion of the land surrounding the village is owned by companies which manage it on behalf of its ultimate proprietors. While much of the land is farmed, it also includes a number of areas of woodland which are home to healthy populations of red squirrels and pipistrelle bats, as well as many species of birds, insects and fungi. The woodland areas are used by the children of Blackford Primary School for Forest School learning and are popular areas of recreation for Blackford residents.
The landowners have recently indicated that they are considering clear felling these woodlands. Blackford Improvement Group (BIG), a local community group, is of the view that this would result in serious damage to local ecology, education and recreation, and that there is an alternative and more sustainable way to manage the woodlands. BIG has already raised funds to commission a preliminary report from forestry experts, who have advised that they believe an alternative woodland management approach would be likely to be viable.
If this approach is successful, there will be a need to fund practical input to support a woodland management scheme . This would realise substantial benefits in terms of local ecology and biodiversity, community amenity and outdoor education.
We would be very grateful for your support in our efforts to safeguard and enhance our local natural heritage.
We need to commission further expert input to fully evaluate and report on biodiversity value and condition of Blackford’s three community woodlands (known locally as the Railway, Cemetery and Quarry Woods). The aim is to build a substantive, well-evidenced and compelling case that there is a viable and sustainable alternative to felling the woods outright. This will involve engaging with independent experts to work with BIG to develop the aforementioned detailed and authoritative plan for discussion with the owners of the woodlands, and Forestry and Land Scotland (the government body that grants felling permissions). It may also call for interaction with other government and/or statutory bodies, and possibly some PR and press activity.
Fund Target - £20,000
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made