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Dumyat

 

Dumyat

Dumyat is iconic in the Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire landscape. The 480 ha estate sits at the western end of the Ochils and includes parts of the beautiful Menstrie Glen. Through woodland creation and habitat restoration, we aim to turn it into an exemplar of sustainable land management.

Dumyat has a rich history. Dumyat, or in Gaelic, Dùn Mhèad, is thought to originate from the words Dun meaning hill fort and Maeatae a British tribe that once occupied the land at the time of the Romans. The site has expansive views of the Forth Valley below. At one time the Maeatae could have looked down on the Romans building the Antonine wall on the opposite side of Forth, far below. Recently, the site has been used for sheep and cattle grazing and for public access.

Long before the Maeatae, the lower and mid slopes of Dumyat would have been wooded. Oaks, Birch and Ash would have been the most common type of tree, with Juniper and Willows much higher up the hill.

Our Vision

Our aim is to combat and mitigate the effects of climate change by planting and regenerating woodland. We will be planting and regenerating native trees on the lower slopes of Dumyat and around Menstrie Glen. We believe that these changes will improve the visitor experience, the landscape as well as the natural environment.

We have a vision where in the future visitors will be able to enjoy spotting butterflies, bees and birds thriving in our wildflower-rich glades, climb through diverse shady native woodland, before finally reaching the summit of Dumyat to enjoy the spectacular panoramic views.

The Future Forest Company- Dumyat

Afforestation

We will plant over 300,000 trees using a range of tree species, extending existing woodland habitat networks and enhancing biodiversity. 

We aim to plant 189 ha of woodland almost entirely composed of native broadleaf and native Scots pine. Through surveys of the area including breeding birds, archaeology, vegetation and soils we’ve matched the right species to where they will contribute most to the environment. Our sensitive woodland design has retained open ground to conserve important archaeological and wildlife interests along with the essence of Dumyat itself. Take a look at our planting plan on the interactive map below.

 

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Wildflowers

Dumyat supports a wide array of wildlife, from beautiful flowers, such as Heath spotted-orchid and Common rockrose, to butterflies and birds, such as Small pearl-bordered fritillary, Whinchat and Red kite. It is also home to one of Scotland’s rarest flowers, the Sticky catchfly! We are working with local naturalists to not only conserve this rare plant but also increase its numbers into the future. At the same time, we plan to transform ecologically degraded grasslands and wetlands into wildflower and pollinator havens.

Crested Newt-Dumyat

Pond Creation and Restoration

At Blairlogie, there is an old pond and wet ditches that have become overgrown and silted up, with invasive non-native Rhododendron thickets. Elsewhere, there is little open water habitat for wetland wildlife. We aim to restore the pond and transform it and its wet ditches into vibrant wildlife habitats. Elsewhere, we plan to create new wetland scrapes to provide habitat for wetland flowers, insects and wetland birds, such as Snipe.

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Endangered Species Conservation in Action

At Dumyat, we are lucky to have several endangered species of conservation concern. In addition to the Sticky catchfly, these include the Small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly, the Northern brown argus butterfly and the Red squirrel. As we do more field work on the site, we will possibly find more national and local rarities, including the delicate Moonwort fern, discovered for the first time by our ecologist in 2022 up Menstrie Glen.

 

Protect Biodiversity

TCV Habitat survey training course June 2022 osprey watching

Community

We are actively working with groups of volunteers from the local community groups, who have been helping us to plant wildflowers. We are improving accessibility on-site to encourage visitors. 

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Education

Our project will provide an educational and research resource next to one of Scotland’s premier universities. Our forest will provide local volunteering opportunities for community and school groups. We’d like the site to be an outdoor educational resource for all levels from primary school through to academic research. 

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Accessibility

Our project aims to improve the visitor experience. We will work to improve existing access routes, so people of all ages and abilities can access this wonderful site. 

Public Consultation

For more detailed project plans and information, please visit our Public Consultation Page.

For all other enquiries please contact: dumyat@thefutureforestcompany.com