Carrifran Wildwood

Mission Statement

The Wildwood project aims to re-create, in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, an extensive tract of mainly forested wilderness with most of the rich diversity of native species present in the area before human activities became dominant. The woodland will not be exploited commercially and the impact of humans will be carefully managed. Access will be open to all, and it is hoped that the Wildwood will be used throughout the next millennium as an inspiration and an educational resource.

Carrifran Glen

The vision of the Wildwood Group was that in at least one part of the Southern Uplands there should be an entire valley showing the broad range of woodland and heathland habitats natural to the area, contrasting with the broad expanses of heavily grazed sheepwalk and patches of conifer plantations that now dominate the landscape.

The purchase of Carrifran, with its great range of altitude (165 to 821 m) make it possible to restore a wide range of upland habitats, including a treeline zone just below the summits of the hills, although recreation of low level floodplain woodland is not feasible within the site. The total land purchase of 660 hectares (1600 acres) included the whole catchment of the Carrifran Burn. The surrounding hills form the watershed between the Tweed and Annan river systems, so that the creation of habitat links across them has special ecological significance.

Carrifran forms part of the Moffat Hills Site of Special Scientific Interest, which is also a Special Area of Conservation under European legislation. The main reasons for designation of the SSSI relate to features of geological and geomorphological interest and to the richest assemblage of montane and submontane plant species in the Southern Uplands.

The geomorphology of Carrifran reflects the heavy glaciation of the area and especially the effects of glaciers generated by the Loch Lomond Re-advance at the end of the last Ice Age. The underlying rocks are early Silurian (c.430 Ma) sedimentary 'greywacke' (shale, siltstone and sandstone). Two slivers of Moffat Shale, the oldest of these rocks, slant NE to SW across the valley and include graptolite fossils of great stratigraphic significance. They contain calcium carbonate and give rise locally to relatively base-rich soils.

The patchy enrichment of the soils, together with the height of the hills and the creation by glaciers of numerous crags (some of which are out of reach of herbivores) has led to the presence of an array of unusual plant species. These include one of the rarest British ferns, Woodsia ilvensis, which was eradicated by Victorian fern collectors but has now been reinstated.

Scottish Natural Heritage has permitted BFT to establish natural woodland throughout most of the lower part of the valley, while avoiding places of special botanical interest and also archaeological sites. Click here for more on Carrifran.

Click here to go to the Carrifran web site.