Some years ago, I attended an interesting forestry workshop at which a local forester outlined the history of a particular woodland. However, he then went on to confess - if that is the right word - that he had only managed to visit the wood once in the previous 18 months.

It would seem whether fighting in the name of the fatherland, the motherland or the homeland, that one word - land - has probably been at the back of every conflict since mankind could wield a club.

A woodlot allows local people to rent and manage an area of woodland from a landowner on a long-term basis. The Scottish Woodlot Association encourages woodlots in Scotland on a model inspired by how woodlots are run in Canada, where this has been common practice for decades.

The underlying ethos of the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere is sustainability. For the Biosphere sustainability is about “Thinking Global, Acting Local” - it’s about dealing with the needs of the local environment, the local economy and our local society in a balanced and even-handed way.

The speed of land use change in Galloway is extraordinary.
In what seems like no time at all, extensive areas of traditional hill farming country have gone to commercial forestry, and given the time delay between approval and delivery of new forest projects, it’s hard to grasp the enormity of what’s coming next.

The Glenkens has a rich and diverse farming heritage. A patchwork of small family owned or long term tenanted farms sits alongside larger estates and holdings. Our mix of uplands and lower lying land create opportunities for different soil distribution and habitat types.

With land sales accelerating by the day and new commercial forestry schemes expanding rapidly across the Glenkens, we wanted to give you an update on what Communities for Diverse Forestry (CDF) have been doing.