The 30-year project to build a forest in Ramsey will be stepping up a gear this winter.
The project was launched by Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT) in 2014 and the vision is that over this time woodland cover will rise from the current 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
For the last few years a small team of volunteers have been busy planting trees and creating 14 acres of new woodland in the hills above Ramsey.
One of the major achievements has been to re-introduce the juniper tree, the island’s only native conifer that went extinct here in the 1940s.
So far they have been introduced to two new sites in the hills above Ramsey. Over time more junipers will be planted on the fringes of the moorland until a sustainable population is established and can naturally spread.
Hazel, a tree that is not common here, will be planted on land above Crossags Farm. Hazel is great for nesting song birds, wildflowers and an abundant nut crop.
The most remarkable thing about the Crossags land is the density of bluebells with an estimated one million over the five acre site.
MWT project officer, Andree Dubbeldam said: ‘A forest is a large landscaped scale area of woodland. This will be the first time many woodland areas which are either touching each other, or in close proximity, have been joined together to form a forest on the island. Imagine a sea of tens of millions of bluebells from the Hairpin almost to Glen Auldyn, alive with bird song, butterflies and children playing and you will understand our vision.’
Andree says that the land above the Crossags is tactically placed alongside the government’s Claughbane plantation which he says is a perfect location to develop into stunning native woodland.
Work in Claughbane is expected to take four years to complete, but the first features should be in place to visit by early 2017.
He said: ‘We will be stepping up a gear this winter. As well as hazel some of the main native trees we use are downy birch, silver birch, native oak, aspen and wych elm. Other native trees such as rowan and holly are spread naturally by birds so there is little need to plant them in this area.
‘While the larch disease is still spreading in commercial plantations and DEFA continue in their efforts to control it, this does actually present an opportunity to replace some of the commercial plantations with native broadleaves. So sad news for the thousands of larch trees that have to be felled, but in the long term it could be good news for nature and people.’