The Wild Heart Expansion Project (WHEP) was established in 2023 by a partnership of Tweed Forum, NatureScot, South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), Southern Upland Partnership and Borders Forest Trust to help expand native woodland cover in the upper Tweed catchment. The project was inspired by the Wild Heart of Southern Scotland, a landscape regeneration programme developed by Borders Forest Trust since 1996.
Over the last few years the WHEP project team have engaged with farmers and landowners and surveyed extensive areas of the Southern Uplands for large-scale native woodland opportunities on a range of land holdings owned by other landowners.
The original WHEP model focused on investment through the carbon market and a large-scale equity fund. Despite considerable interest from landowners, it has become apparent that the carbon market is not yet mature enough, and the policy landscape too uncertain, to incentivise woodland creation at scale in the WHEP focus area. However, the Tweed Forum team continue to work on smaller scale woodland creation options with landowners in the short term. Rather than an equity fund, Tweed Forum are developing more traditional carbon purchase projects with Scottish businesses.
The WHEP team is currently developing a significant opportunity around one of Scottish Water’s drinking water reservoirs, which could have significant benefits for drinking water quality and resilience. Tweed Forum continues to work with farmers and landowners to scope and plant woodland projects within the core area using a mix of public, private and charitable income.
In addition, other partners continue their own work on landscape restoration and native woodlands – Borders Forest Trust has acquired a further 115 ha of land at Ericstane as part of their Wild Heart of Southern Scotland landscape restoration work which will increase woodland and landscape restoration to the west of their existing properties at Carrifran and Talla/Gameshope. Scottish Water has acquired Talla farm, on the east side of the Wild Heart area, and are creating approximately 80 ha of new woodland with Tweed Forum scoping a 50 ha site adjacent to this.
For further information about the Wild Heart Expansion Project please contact Luke Comins at luke.comins@tweedforum.org.
Project partners
