New forest management by the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project is helping to protect capercaillies and other rare species of wildlife, while restoring the environments in which they thrive. In partnership with Seafield & Strathspey Estates, the project is an example of the necessary and important work of forestry in protecting habitats in woodland and enhancing Scottish landscapes.
Scotland’s great native pinewoods are shrinking in number, however Plantation Scots pine forests are just as plentiful in supporting populations of capercaillies. Proper care and management of these environments is vital, which is why the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project have undertaken the role of creating new habitats for Capercaillies and to ensure all their needs are met.
The project involves the process of thinning the trees which only occurs around every 10 years, as Scots pine take a long time to grow. Each area they thin the machines only work in about 3 or 4 square hectares at a time, to cause as little disturbance as possible.
Thinning the trees involves carefully selecting and removing a relatively small number of trees within quite a densely planted woodland, where you can see it can look quite dark under the canopy. The main advantage to thinning is that it exposes the forest floor to sunlight and moisture which helps plants thrive, like blaeberry, which is a brilliant food source for capercaillie and other animals.
Capercaillie thrive in a habitat that’s varied in structure, for example a mix of mature and young trees, with blaeberry cover and boggy areas that contain plants for them to feed on. Currently with newer plantations, all the pines are around the same age, so it’s not as optimal for the animals as it could be. So, by felling a small number of trees, you give the forest floor a chance to thrive, and new trees can grow while the existing one’s age, eventually giving a nice variety of trees for capercaillies to expand into this habitat and hopefully thrive here.
Managing forests for capercaillie is crucial to ensure they remain with us. They’re often called an ‘umbrella species’ because whatever is done to help capercaillies also benefits a wide range of other wildlife, from red squirrel to other ground nesting birds and even insects and amphibians.
This process allows the team to retain some trees for wildlife habitat, with everyone benefiting from forests full of wildlife. But we can also use the felled trees for timber which contributes to the local economy.