Aigas Community Forest

Development Funding Boost for Aigas Community Forest

29 June 2010

A Highland Community in Strathglass, near Beauly, has received a major boost with its plans to buy their local forest and establish a sustainable social enterprise. Aigas Community Forest has secured £7,000 of development funding from The Highland LEADER 2007 – 2013 Programme and The Highland Council. This will be matched with existing funds and volunteer Directors time to provide a £10,000 funding package aimed at securing the forest for the community.

Aigas Forest is being sold by Forestry Commission Scotland and, following community consultation and a successful local ballot, the community secured the right to buy the 700 acre woodland at an agreed price of £690,000. All purchase funding now has to be in place by June 2011.

The LEADER and Highland Council grants will allow the group to undertake a number of development activities in support of their fundraising. These include a full business plan for the forest’s timber business and other potential sources of income including woodland burials, eco-accommodation for visitors, and wood fuel supply. Once completed an independent socio-economic impact analysis will be undertaken to identify the benefits to the community of implementing the business plan. The grant also allows Aigas Community Forest to develop a new website through which they can run a range of fundraising campaigns encouraging on-line giving and also a series of leaflets and brochures to fully explain their plans to local residents, visitors and potential charitable funders.

Aigas Community Forest Secretary, Andrew Leaver commented ‘over the past 15 years community ownership of local land and forests has grown with the support of the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the BIG Lottery Fund. These community buy-outs have helped transform islands and glens into thriving sustainable local communities, but over the past three years financial support from the public sector has reduced following an unwritten change in policy and, of course, the current recession.’

‘Our feasibility study showed that Aigas Forest has significant potential to be run as a productive working forest providing social, economic and environmental benefits for the local community but first we need to raise the money for purchase. These development funds will allow us to produce a well researched business plan and an independent review of the socio-economic impacts that will come from its implementation. This will make our applications to the BIG Lottery Fund and HIE more persuasive in a highly competitive environment. The grant also allows us to develop a new website through which we can run some fundraising campaigns, including one targeted at the Clan Fraser and Clan Chisholm diaspora as Aigas Forest is sited on land traditionally associated with these clans.’

‘We fully recognize that the days of 80% to 90% public sector funding for community land purchases are gone – at least for the near future – and so we are having to take a different approach to raising the funds we need. These two grants are a major boost for our efforts.’