Bringing back rare trees

1 Feb 2024

Over the last 3 years, groups of hardy volunteers have carried thousands of Downy Willow (Salix lapponum) and Whortle-leaf Willow (Salix myrsinites) saplings over the Cairngorm Plateau and planted them in the Loch A’an basin as part of a wider programme of work to restore the important montane habitat within the RSPB Abernethy National Nature Reserve, and the wider Cairngorms Connect Partnership Area. In order to track the establishment of these hardy wee trees, monitoring these saplings is an important stage in the project.

The Loch A’an basin can only be accessed on foot, over a mountain plateau. Before work can even begin, each monitoring party follows the footsteps of the planting parties and hikes for over two hours to get to the remote planting areas. On a good day the reward is stunning views across Loch A’an, but this is Scotland, and the weather is changeable. Bad weather doesn’t dampen the team’s spirits though, finding healthy plants is reward enough. They check the plants’ growth and whether they are flowering, inspect them for damage, and check the area for signs of herbivores. Seeing which saplings are thriving and which are struggling helps the team decide where to plant in future, so the saplings have the best chance of survival. It also provides information on whether other aspects of the project are working.

Over the years, land use practices such as overgrazing have resulted in the functional extinction of mountain woodland habitat in the UK and the remaining scattered montane willow plants are isolated, too far apart to naturally reproduce. The natural habitat has been lost and in turn species that rely on high altitude woodland to survive have disappeared. To allow the willow saplings to survive and enable recovery of the damaged habitats, herbivore pressure is reduced. Saplings are planted where grazing appears to be low and grazing stock such as sheep are moved if they stray into the planted areas. Deer populations are managed and controlled collaboratively with neighbouring estates through the Cairngorms Connect Partnership and this is further enhanced by similar work being carried out by the neighbouring National Trust for Scotland on their Mar Lodge estate. This collaborative approach has allowed planting to commence earlier than planned and the results of the monitoring are encouraging, with plants thriving and grazing at acceptable levels.

Watch our video to find out more and see how monitoring can be fun on a damp day in Loch A’an!

27 Sep 2021

Earlier this summer, a hardy band of volunteers carried thousands of downy willow saplings over the Cairngorm Plateau as part of a bid to restore the important montane habitat. Planting the native trees is an important stage in a wider programme of work to improve the habitat in the Cairngorms and within the RSPB Abernethy reserve. At Abernethy we’re establishing a tree nursery to develop seedlings and cuttings of the scarce sub-arctic willows Salix lapponum and Salix myrsinites which can then be planted out to augment the existing isolated remnant populations around the Loch A’an basin.

The RSPB are able to deliver this project thanks to a generous grant from the LIFE programme of the European Union, with additional support from NatureScot and the Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme through Cairngorms Connect. Thank you!

The work taking place at Abernethy would not be possible without the amazing efforts of the committed volunteers.  We would like to extend our thanks to them for helping to make this important project possible. If you would like to find out more about the restoration work or to become a volunteer on the project, please go to the Cairngorms Connect website here.

The important planting work would not be successful without the collaborative approach to herbivore control. You can find out more about this here.