Land for sale in Cairngorms National Park, Inverness-Shire PH21

Far Ralia offers one of the largest quantified carbon sequestration opportunities in the UK, with a tree planting programme opportunity of close to 1.5 million trees. There is an unparalleled reforestation and decarbonisation project fully funded and approved, with planting underway, with 75% of the trees now planted with 4 of the 5 planting compartments completed.

The restoration scheme includes the planting of 2,103 acres of native trees, regeneration of peatlands, and natural succession of open grounds. The land rises from 290m above sea level to 594m at the summit of Garbh-mheall Mor. The terrain is one of morainic mounds rising up gentle slopes with areas of flatter terrain between. Where drainage is impeded peat has accumulated. There are a number of extensive peat flats. The hilltops are craggy with exposed rocky knolls.

Woodland - The planting at Far Ralia has been designed to establish a new native woodland that emulates a native Caledonian forest, and provides the opportunity to replenish native woodland. The Forestry managers undertook seed collection from the site to ensure the provenance and genetic integrity of the woodland. The proposed planting comprises of:
• 640 acres of Native Upland Birch
• 1302 acres of Native Scots Pine
• 257 acres of Low Density Native Broadleaf
• 45 acres of Natural Regeneration
• 203 acres of Designed Open Ground
• 952 acres of Deep Peat
• 27 acres of Existing Woodland

The scheme is designed to fit with the Cairngorm National Park Authorities (cnpa) landscape areas by maintaining the types of woodland found in these areas, namely large areas of Scots Pine woodland within the mouths of the glens, located on the steep side slopes reinforcing the shelter and containment. Birch woodland will also be incorporated on the more hummocky terrain and riparian areas. Trees will be planted at an average of 1,600 stems per hectare across the Native Upland Birch and Native Scots Pine areas. These will be planted at variable densities to create a more natural woodland feel. Species will include Scots Pine, Downy Birch, Silver Birch, Rowan, Aspen, Juniper, Alder, Sessile Oak and Dwarf Birch.

Peatland - The soils largely comprise of peaty podzols but have localised areas of peaty gley. Peat is a dominant feature of the site with 951 acres comprising deep peat (>50cm deep). The main areas of deep peat are located on the flatter-lying ground, although there are smaller pockets scattered throughout the site. Buffer areas of 15m will be employed to planted areas
adjacent to areas of peatland restoration. Within the areas of planting, some small pockets of deep peat exist. These areas will be marked out on site at the time of planting and incorporated into scheme variable stocking density.

Biodiversity - The Biodiversity Intactness Index (bii) is an intuitive summary of local biodiversity and an indicator for granular and global biodiversity targets. Unlike other biodiversity indicators, the predicts (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) can project how bii will change in response to future management decisions.

Far Ralia's bii is currently just below 52%. When land is restored, either using active planting schemes or passive abandonment, biodiversity is allowed the time and space to recover. The Natural History Museum have predicted bii at Far Ralia for the first time over three coarse time steps - short term (<30 years after restoration), medium term (30-75 years after restoration), and long term (>70 years after restoration). Based on the planned planting and regeneration scheme and the subsequent improvements in local biodiversity at the time, bii will recover to a mark of 94% in the long term. This increase in bii over time is demonstrated in the figure and table below.

Far Ralia is situated on the far side of the Ralia Estate in the Cairngorm National Park. Located to the south of the village of Newtonmore in the Highlands, which is a two and a half hours drive by car from Edinburgh. Inverness Airport can be reached in an hour and offers regular flights to London, and other major UK cities.

The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland. It is the largest National Park in the UK and showcases stunning landscapes and varying landforms.