The main focus for our 24th October meeting was due to be the revised business plan.  Although the plan is progressing well there will not be a document ready to discuss at the meeting so we have postponed this until later in November.

This feed was drawn from the Aigas Community Forest website

Aigas Community Forest have been granted permission by Forestry Commission Scotland to consider leasing the Forest instead of purchasing it.  Although outright ownership remains the preferred aim, fundraising in the current climate has proved extremely difficult.  Last year the rules were changed to allow communities to lease rather than buy and with the recent permission from FCS, Aigas Community Forest now have until November 2012 to investigate the financial viability of a long term lease.

Leases can run for anything between 25 and 175 years and allow the tenant to operate the Forest in much the same way they would if they owned it.  FCS guielines on calculating rental values are complex and ACF are currently engaged in a business planning exercise which will hopefully result in the negotiation of a fair and reasonable rental value.

This feed was drawn from the Aigas Community Forest website

We will be holding our 1st Annual General Meeting on Monday 20th June at 7.30pm in Magnus House at Aigas Field Centre.  Aigas Community Forest have been formally established as a Company Limited by Guarantee since February 2010 and the AGM is an opportunity for anyone interested in our work to join the Board.  Read more about being a Company Member and / or a Director on our Governance and Join Us pages.  See also our most recent Newsletter.

This feed was drawn from the Aigas Community Forest website

Aigas Community Forest have launched a campaign seeking pledges towards the purchase and development of Aigas Forest.  In order to buy the Forest outright the group need to raise at least £690,000.  They are now seeking promises from interested individuals and companies who want to support their aims.  For more information see the Make a Pledge page.

This feed was drawn from the Aigas Community Forest website

Aigas Community Forest held a Forest Open Day on Sunday 27th September.  Local residents were invited to come along and learn more about access to the Forest and have the opportunity to go on a walk led by the head ranger of Aigas Field Centre.  Between 25 and 30 people attended aged from 5 to 80 and all undertook a 3-4 mile circuit combining the main forest road with less well-known footpaths.  With some of the best weather of the month so far a great afternoon was had by all.

This feed was drawn from the Aigas Community Forest website

On Sunday 12th September nine teams took to Aigas Golf Course for a 9-hole Texas Scramble. With team fees, sponsorship and a raffle £900 was raised. Congratulations to the winning team, CSC Crop Protection Ltd, and to Beauly Curling Club in second place.  Our thanks to all who took part and to the sponsors - Aigas Holiday Cottages, Neil Ross Tractors, Frank Nicol Farm and Graden Machinery, Ffordes Photographic, The Old North Inn, Comet, Aigas Field Centre, Dingbro, The Clansman Hotel, Glen Ord Distillery, The Priory Hotel and Harry Gow Bakers.
 

This feed was drawn from the Aigas Community Forest website

The residents of Lower Strathglass now have two extra supporters for their efforts to secure Aigas Forest as a community asset. Noted conservationist Sir John Lister-Kaye and land reform campaigner and historian Professor James Hunter have both put their full support behind Aigas Community Forest and agreed to act as Forest Champions.

When the community has secured the forest it will be run as a social enterprise providing measurable environmental and social benefits for the local community. Sir John Lister-Kaye has a 30 year career in nature conservation and is a successful author and businessman. As Environmental Forest Champion he endorses the community’s plans for managing the forest; - ‘I firmly believe that imaginative community ownership would permit creative management of the forest for the best interests of nature conservation, environmental education and local recreation, as well as continued production of some commercial timber and other carefully controlled activities. In my professional opinion as a conservationist, this shift in emphasis and freeing up of opportunity is badly needed. I am in no doubt that the local community possesses the skills and commitment to undertake the management of this forest.’

Professor Hunter is a historian and writer and has been an active campaigner for land reform for many years. As Social Forest Champion he believes that community ownership of Aigas Forest will bring a range of benefits; - ‘Over the last twenty or so years, many Highlands and Islands communities have taken ownership of local land and other assets. The results have everywhere been positive. Jobs have been created, new homes have been built, businesses have been established and, in many instances, the wider population has benefited from the introduction of more people-friendly, as well as more environmentally-friendly, sorts of management. The people involved in the Aigas Community Forest initiative are anxious to have exactly this sort of responsibility. I am certain they are more than capable of exercising it. That is why they have my backing – and why, I trust, they will get all the other backing they both need and deserve.’

Andrew Leaver, Secretary of Aigas Community Forest commented; - ‘It is heartening to see our activities are recognised as having a benefit to the community. Earlier this month the Scottish Charity Regulator agreed our goals are worthy of official registration as a Scottish charity and now we have gained the wholehearted support of these two individuals with their reputation and experience. This is a tremendous boost to our campaign.’
 

This feed was drawn from the Aigas Community Forest website

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.’
 

This feed was drawn from the Aigas Community Forest website