'Fiiiiiili" Morvern ~~-.Ts 1

Achnaha Community Wood Coille Choimhearsnachd Achnaha Management plan 2013-2018 CONTENTS 1. Background 1.1. Location 1.2. Area 1.3. Owner & manager 1.4. Designations and obligations 1.5. Recent management history 2. Vision and objectives of management 2.1. Long-term vision 2.2. Operational objectives 3. Actions and priorities 3.1. Five-year plan 3.2. Financial management 3.3. Monitoring and review Appendices. (1) Geology, topography and soils (2) History (3) Woodland type (4) Woodland compartments and management access (5) Key features (6) Surrounding land use (7) Community description and connection with the woodland (8) Guidelines for thinning ash and sycamore (9) A brief description of the vegetation of Achnaha Community Wood, Morvern (10) Generic Risk Assessment covering MCW activities in Achnaha Community Wood 'fIIIIiIlI" Morvern ~~-.ts 1. Background 1.1. Location: NM 643455, Parish of Morvern, Adjacent to B849, 3.5 km WNW of the village of Lochaline. 1.2. Area: 8 ha (6.5 ha woodland and 1.5 ha coastal open ground outwith the woodland). 1.3. Owner & manager: The woodland and adjacent open ground is part of the National Forest Estate managed by Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. Public events and work programmes in the woodland are managed by Morvern Community Woodlands, a private limited company (SC275782), in consultation with FCS.These activities are covered by a 25-year management agreement signed with FCSon 10 March 2005. 1.4. Designations and obligations: None. Law of Scotland. Part of the woodland is shown on the Scottish Ancient Woodland Inventory as an area of Long Established (of Plantation Origin) woodland.' Fig 1. Basemap showing outline of ownership (green line) • \ 1 I , I, ForestryCclmmlssion Scotlond'* Achnaha rh) 1:2500 ~, \\ll//, t.:;:;J Achnaha Community Wood ~ul II ....'-I II , 29m I () (\ , A 1''- C1..) L l () I'.) (c) CrownCopyrighl All righi' reserved, Forestry Ccnmission, GD212388. 2001 1 The area of 'Ancient Woodland' is contained within management compartment 1 and appears to correspond with the area delineated by the remaining stone walls in the SW of the wood and an earlier dyke that runs NNW into the NW corner of the wood). ...,." Morvern /~ CommunIIr- 1.5. Recent management history*: From 2005-2012, woodland management activities have consisted of: 1. Stock fencing the whole wood; 2. Eradication of the exotic, invasive Rhododendron ponticum from the wood; 3. Creation of a large glade in the heart of the wood through removal of the Norway spruce; 4. Using the felled spruce trees to build a woodland shelter; 5. Creation of a path network with boardwalks, styles, informal benches and an artwork installation of a giant Spider and Fly in a web; 6. Thinning of the Ash-Alder-Sycamore in compartments la and 3a (see map in appendix 4); 7. Selective harvesting of Sycamore in compartment 4; 8. Removal of windblown trees for firewood for local pensioners with some left in situ as deadwood. 9. Organising two theatre productions within the wood 10.0rganising annual community events in the woodland l1.0rganising an anniversary event for the community within the woodlands 12.Working with the local school particularly the nursery to encourage and enable the use of the wood as a forest classroom *For a detailed description of the woods and the local community please see the appendices ....,.", Morvern ~ CoInm<lnlty--' 2. Objectives of management 2.1. Long-term vision MCW would like Achnaha Community Wood to bring enjoyment and improve the quality of life of our community through recreation, social events, learning new skills, and coming into contact with a diverse broadleaf woodland and coastal environment. 2.2. Operational objectives 1. Involve the community 2. Encourage recreation 3. Create opportunities for woodland-based education 4. Manage the wood and use its products to encourage it to develop into a diverse broadleaf woodland ..."" Morvern ~ Communi'Y_ 3. Actions and priorities 3.1. Five year plan Involve the community Priorities Run annual social events High Run annual pensioner firewood High Permanent BBQ area by the shelter Medium Encourage recreation Maintain path network High A compost toilet Medium Activity play area for kids in the clearing near the shelter (low key, High using local timber rope swings woodchip etc.) More woodland artwork (like the Spider and the Fly) throughout the High woodland New path links Low Create a pond Low Shelter on the shore Low Investigate development of coastal wildlife hide Low Create opportunities for woodland-based education Support continued 'Forest School' with Lochaline Nursery Medium Work with Lochaline Primary School to maintain and develop their use Medium of the wood Build a pond dipping platform Low Manage the wood and use its products to encourage it to develop into a diverse broadleat woodland Specific tree management - dangerous, veteran, native character etc. High Selective harvesting of mature trees to provide timber and create Medium gaps for regeneration Native species not present in the wood should be introduced where Low appropriate e.g. aspen; gean (cherry); yew; guelder rose; bird cherry. Only yew and holly will grow under the sycamore. Aspen could go in the craggy bit above the stile. trhinning of young dense ash and sycamore stands, selected for form Low Gradual removal of Norway Spruce Low ..,." Morvern /..~- 3.2. Financial management An application to acquire the wood from Forestry Commission Scotland is in preparation together with an application for acquisition and development funding. Woodland acquisition will open access to the EU-Scotland Rural Development Fund 2014-2020, including LEADERfunding. Morvern Community Woodlands directors have prior experience of securing SFGS, Big Lottery, Heritage Lottery and RDP funding. 3.3. Monitoring and review Progress in the implementation of the plan will be reviewed annually at the first Directors meeting after the Annual General Meeting. Appropriate/ agreed modifications or additions to the plan will be included on those occasions. ...", Morvern ~ Comm<mIIY~ Appendices (1) Geology, topography and soils Achnaha Community Woodland lies about halfway along the northern shore of the Sound of Mull. It is at the base of the south-west facing slope of the escarpment that shapes the most south-westerly 'third' of the Morvern peninsula. This escarpment has mainly been fashioned by successive periods of glacial erosion on a deep series of volcanic lavas, themselves intruded by frequent basalt dykes, which spewed from what must have been a massive centre of volcanic activity during the Paleogene (about SOm years ago). It is of the same origin as the lavas of the Isles of Mull, Staffa, Skye and the Small Isles, as well as the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Basalt comprises the primary rock of the whole site. The highest point of the site is the NE corner, at about 36m above sea level. From here, the whole northern half of the woodland slopes gradually westwards towards the Savary River and the field track that lies just beyond the western boundary. It also slopes southwards towards the shore, gradually at first - then levelling out across an area somewhat less than 1 ha, roughly in the centre of the wood. Immediately south-west of this central 'flat', the ground rises (perhaps just Sm or so) to the top of a small (also approx lha), roughly-circular, rocky mound - that drops quite sharply on all other sides towards the south-western corner perimeters of the wood. The shoreward woodland boundary lies at break of slope here, some Sm above the 'Mean High Water Springs' contour (which datum forms the southern boundary of the whole site). The ground again levels out southwards from the base of the wood, forming a small area (1.5 ha) of unfenced, unimproved grassland on a raised beach (of mainly basaltic gravels), which continues to slope very gradually down to a shallow sandy bay that forms the shoreline here. The south-eastern 'quarter' of the wood drops from the more level central area, down a short, moderately steep, bank, to the lowest part of the site that is wooded - a relatively wet 'hollow' - just above a slightly rockier part of the shoreline. With little or no variation in the underlying rock and in the absence of any burns or appreciable surface watercourses, the immediately-local underlying topography imposes the main influences on the drainage mosaic across the site. That then influences the depth, wetness, fertility and acidity levels of the soil (and associated ground flora and vegetation communities that can be supported) at any point. Generally shallow, but well-drained soils occur on steeper slopes, with thin, but relatively freshly formed (and less leached) depositions on and around rocky areas and outcrops. Deeper brown-earth soils have formed on more gently sloping areas, and wetter and muddier, often humus-enriched patches occur wherever groundwater flow is impeded and at the base of slopes. Despite the fact that all the soils of the site have been derived originally from moderately alkaline basalt, in Morvern's high rainfall climate many areas have been leached of bases - and (judging from the present ground flora - see Appendix 2) are pH-neutral or even mildly acid. (2) History The history of the wood requires further research. Few dates are recorded. There is no information about the establishment or past management of the ash-sycamore in the wood. The only firm date recorded for the tree cover is the P47 Norway Spruce .,.."" Morvern ~~ry~ ;.;;....-- (50% felled in 2005). A number of dykes of varying ages run through the wood. Again, further work is needed to determine their age and function. It is probable the wood was a farm woodland, linked to the nearby steading of Achnaha. The avenue of mature trees alongside the B849 is attributed to the Duke of Argyll though it is more likely to have been the work of John Sinclair of Lochaline House and Fiunary Estate, who planted many trackside and field boundaries in the 1820s and 1830s with Ash, Beech, Sycamore etc.

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