12 Dec 2025

Inverewe’s wild comeback: forest regeneration

Written by Martin Hughes, Operations Manager for Inverewe and Corrieshalloch Gorge NNR

A close-up of a lush and diverse woodland, with a wide range of green plants growing at all levels.

There is good evidence of natural tree regeneration at Inverewe in a recent survey.

Inverewe is celebrating the successful establishment of new woodlands after leaving previously felled tree stumps to regenerate naturally.

When visitors think of Inverewe, they often picture its world-famous coastal garden – a lush oasis defying the wild Atlantic winds. Yet beyond the manicured borders lies a much larger story. The National Trust for Scotland’s Inverewe Estate covers over 380 hectares of rugged hillside, woodland and peatland. Here, the team is quietly proving that sometimes the best way to restore nature is to simply step back and let it get on with the job.

Following the 2016 outbreak of Phytophthora ramorum (a disease that devastated larch plantations across the Highlands), Inverewe had to fell large areas of infected timber. The felling, completed in 2020, left behind bare ground and stumps across several compartments, particularly to the east of the garden.

Under normal circumstances, the next step would have been costly replanting using nursery stock. But instead, Operations Manager Martin Hughes and his team decided to take a different path. Guided by the National Trust for Scotland’s Plan for Nature, they chose to pause replanting and monitor what nature could do on its own.

‘We wanted to see how far natural regeneration would take us,’ explains Martin. ‘Given the seed sources around the site – pine, birch, willow and rowan – there was potential for nature to lead the recovery, without heavy intervention.’

A view of a landscape from a hillside, looking down across an inlet of a loch. A white house stands by the shore, next to a winding road, surrounded by green fields, woodland and distant rolling hills. Low cloud rolls over the top of the hills.

A natural success story

Fast-forward to 2025, and that gamble has paid off. A detailed natural regeneration survey carried out this autumn, using systematic sample plots across the 12-hectare felling zone, revealed a remarkable diversity of native seedlings already taking hold. Birch and Scots pine dominate, with rowan, willow and hazel interspersed in wetter pockets – a pattern that closely matches the planting prescriptions outlined in Inverewe’s 2021–25 Forest Management Plan.

The results mean that large parts of the cleared area will now be allowed to develop naturally rather than being replanted. This saves resources, reduces carbon emissions from planting operations, and produces a woodland that is genetically adapted to its local environment.

Martin says, ‘These seedlings have germinated in situ, so they’re naturally toughened to this coastal climate and its wind, wet and salt. That’s the kind of forest we want to see for the next hundred years.’

It’s a win for biodiversity and for resilience.

Working with nature, not against it

The survey work was carried out on foot, using plot-based measurements and deer-browsing assessments. Martin and his team waded through boggy ground and fought off the dreaded midge to measure seedling density, height and species mix. This data will help refine future management – for instance, where deer fencing or selective planting might still be needed to support slower-establishing species.

Two people wearing black rain gear work in a muddy forest clearing, using measuring tools. An overcast sky and rolling hills provide a rugged backdrop.

Two people in outdoor gear and midge nets work in a forest clearing, measuring plots with a red tape. The sky is overcast, and the ground is rugged and grassy, with tall pine trees in the background.

Maps from the Inverewe Forestry Restocking Plan show how the area east of the garden forms part of a broader, estate-wide restructuring: moving away from conifer plantations towards mixed native woodland and Caledonian pinewood restoration. Other areas are now earmarked for low-impact silvicultural systems or long-term natural reserves, balancing conservation and productive forestry.

Looking ahead

With natural regeneration now well underway, Inverewe’s landscape is entering a new phase, one shaped by patience and ecological understanding. Instead of rigid plantation blocks, the emerging woodland is a mosaic of self-sown species, mirroring the diverse habitats that once covered this part of Wester Ross.

This approach aligns perfectly with the National Trust for Scotland’s wider ambitions for nature recovery, climate resilience and sustainable land use. It’s also a story that visitors can see first-hand as they explore beyond the garden into the hills, where new forests are quietly returning.

Quote

“When you walk up behind the garden now, you can already see the next generation of woodland coming through. It’s nature showing us what it can do when we give it space.”

Martin Hughes

Operations Manager