Grantee: SCOTLAND: The Big Picture

Duration:  13 months (August, 2025 – August, 2026) 

 

Background

In the Highlands and Islands, natural regeneration of woodland is often suppressed because of herbivore grazing pressure, primarily from deer. Woodland creation projects have been taking place for decades, however, these projects face challenges in terms of time, resources, and ecological value. Innovations in this area have significant potential to allow natural processes to lead and accelerate establishment.

Drone seeding is an emerging approach to mimic natural seed dispersal. This involves using drones to drop seeds from the air, mimicking how nature spreads seeds in the wild. Projects elsewhere have suggested that the technology is effective, but further trials are required in areas with different ground conditions.

The Project

A wildfire in 2024 created extensive areas of bare ground on Glenuig Hill, on the Moidart peninsula of Lochaber. There is a brief window of opportunity for tree seeds to take advantage of the bare ground, before grasses return and dominate.

Convened by SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, the Loch Abar Mòr nature restoration partnership aims to accelerate native woodland regeneration through drone seeding, to enable natural processes to drive distribution patterns of woodland. Native tree seeds will be collected by volunteers, prepared for sowing, then dispersed by drones over 24 hectares of both burnt and unburnt ground with the results compared with control plots showing natural regeneration only.

Seed establishment is expected to be more successful on the burnt ground, where competition from vigorous grasses is reduced. As well as helping to bring back native woodland, this project will test how well drone seeding works after wildfires – potentially offering a new, scalable way to help nature recover in a changing climate where wildfires are an increasing threat.