Plans to Create One of Europe’s Biggest New Woodlands Gets Green Light at Loch Katrine - Scottish Water

A scheme to create one of the biggest new woodlands in Europe at an iconic Scottish loch - and protect water supplies for generations to come - has taken a major step forward.

The 10-year Land Management Plan (LMP) for Scottish Water’s Loch Katrine estate, developed in partnership with long-term tenant Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), has been approved by Scottish Forestry - and will see the lands around the loch boost the fight against the climate crisis by locking up more carbon and improving the resilience of the catchment to climate change.

The 8-miles long freshwater loch – which supplies water to 1.3 million people in the Greater Glasgow area and other parts of the Central Belt via infrastructure built largely by Victorian pioneers – is surrounded by 9,500 hectares of land which is occupied and managed by FLS and located in the heart of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park (LLTNP).

Plans for the land at Loch Katrine include the restoration and maintenance of several hundred hectares of peatland across the site, as well as the creation of over 4,600 hectares – the equivalent of more than 6440 football pitches – of native woodland, largely through re-wilding and natural regeneration.

It is anticipated that delivering these actions will see a 40 per cent increase in the status of biodiversity across the site, as well as capturing up to 1 million tonnes of carbon over 60 years.

It is also key in helping to protect the quality and resilience of the water supply at the loch in the face of a changing climate. Restoring natural woodland and encouraging healthy, functioning peatland and moorland will make the landscape more resilient to climate change, helping to stabilise soils, hold more water and slow the runoff from the land.

This results in less organic matter being washed into the loch and on to the water treatment works - a growing issue thanks to more extreme rainfall caused by climate change - and ensures the water can continue to be treated to the high standards customers expect.