Anagach Woods Vision and Aims:
The Trust’s vision for Anagach Woods is for a wild pinewood that enables nature and the local community to thrive together:
- Providing a home for many native species, including pinewood rarities such as twinflower, aspen, and capercaillie, as part of a healthy forest ecosystem and wider nature networks.
- Allowing the local community to benefit from the woods as a remarkable resource for leisure, nature connectedness and wellbeing, with further development of high-quality recreation infrastructure, education, and volunteering opportunities.
- Helping Anagach Woods and the local community develop resilience in the face of climate change and other risks.
Charitable purposes
The Anagach Woods Trust is managed in accordance with its purposes, which are set out in our Memorandum and Articles of Association:
The Purposes are to be exercised following the principles of sustainable development (where sustainable development means development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs), namely:
A. To manage community land and associated assets for the benefit of the Community and the public in general, with a particular emphasis, but not exclusively, on the conservation of Scotland’s natural heritage and the conservation, restoration and improvement of woodlands in and around Grantown on Spey;
B. To advance the education of the public generally but particularly the education of young people within the Community concerning the local wildlife, conservation and preservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the area;
C. To provide, or assist in providing, recreational facilities, and/or organising recreational activities, which will be available to members of the Community and public at large with the object of improving the conditions of life of the Community;
D. To promote, establish and operate other schemes of a charitable nature for the benefit of the Community.
Based on these purposes the Board of the Trust has developed a set of aims for the management of Anagach Woods:
- To work closely with nature, managing the Woods to improve habitats for rare plants and animals characteristic of native Scots pine forest, that includes sustaining a resident population of capercaillie, and containing the spread of non-native, invasive species.
- To maintain a high-quality recreation infrastructure that meets the needs of locals and visitors, young and old and of all abilities, and that contributes to the value of Grantown as a whole and supports nature conservation priorities.
- To make the most of the wood as a resource for environmental education and skills training, ensuring that the current and future generations are inspired by the woods and learn to care for them.
- To fell and harvest timber only when necessary to improve habitats for threatened species and for income to sustain the management of the woods and then only by following sound silvicultural practice appropriate to Continuous Cover Forestry.
- In line with conservation objectives, to facilitate opportunities for small business development based on the products and activities of Anagach Woods.
- To maintain a positive flow of financial resources from timber and non-timber woodland products and activities, and from grants and donations that will help sustain the management of the woods.
- To enable engagement from a wide range of Grantown residents and other stakeholders in the management operations and planning of the woods.
These aims are taken from the Trust’s Urban Woodland Management Plan (UWMP) which you can read in full.
Project 2033
We are developing a plan to deliver the vision and aims, which are incorporated in our Urban Woodland Management Plan that has been approved by Scottish Forestry and which are described on this page. This project will take us through to 2033. Thanks to funding from the Berry Burn Community Fund, we will commission the specialist support needed to create the project plan and manage its implementation. While many of these activities will be carried out by volunteers, there are some challenging and specialist tasks that require expert local contractors. The support that we have received from the Berry Burn Community Fund will allow us to prioritise and manage all of the resources that we need to successfully deliver this exciting project.