Isnt wildfires part of nature?

Great video Sam, Thank you. You mentioned the deep heather in the pinewoods, and the fact that most seeds can't get through to the soil, and those that do find it hard to grow up through the heather. Are there any schemes in place to remove the heather within the pinewoods?

Great video, Sam! Glad ye were able tae recover yer drone and complete it! 🙌🏻

❤💪🔥

That was mega lucky you got your drone back in one piece. I've put the book you mentioned in my basket on amazon. Great video and lots of info to take in. 👍

Watched this last night, great vid mate as usual and glad you got the drone back 👍

Good job, I enjoyed that.

Fantastic video man , it was like a 29 minute long forest thoughts awesome and smashing bud , looking forward to next video as usual bud , tha mi an dòchas gu bheil thu gu math 😎👌👌👌👌👍

Hi Sam, I really do enjoy watching your videos and learning from you. Yes I was once one of them who went outdoors and didn't know much about where I was. But Iver the last few years that is changing. I am awake, and I don't like what I see. I would love to get more involved in conservation my self. If one person can do a little act, imagine what a few million can do. Love your channel.

Deeside feels like the most extensive forest valley in the UK. Lovely area. Great video. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Saw the hills on fire again yesterday….burning heather, ling and tree seedlings, juniper etc. The smoke was thick and stinging. It’s so that a few city spivs and hooray Henry’s can shoot small birds for fun…..a quarter of Scotlands land area.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Sam, great video!

Thank you for the update, Sam. It's woderful to see the progress of the recovery plans for the Eastern Pinewoods! There is so much invloved and maintaining the parameters for each place must be consistent and constant! And now it's paying off!! It's beautifil! Thank you, Sam and to all of those who are involved in this great project!

Drone retrieval persistence at its best.. great informative video once again.. enjoy spring.. ✌️👍

Outstanding video and information *Sam* on our native woodland over in the north east. This collection of videos you'v created is going to see you being offered a high postion in convservation. Sam you have a good heart and passion for our land with the correct thinking, personally i dont think you belong in the government forestry corps. Its not like Findlay's day, when he could go against the grain aka Affric. Today there is zero tolerance, example... Try ask to return an area of outstanding beauty from monoculture to native or plant even a 3rd of amount of native saplings to the 2/3rds of alien and see your request rejected and if you pursue, see your career ended as a naughty boy against the governors.

Unfortunately, the area i live in has had a lot of land clearing going on for 4-wheeler trails. My family doesn't allow any hunting, cutting or 4 wheeling of any kind on our 70 some acres. I'm just curious, do you have any poisonous snakes there? Thanks Sam for another great video and remember, if you're ever in east Tennessee USA, you're welcome to hang with us. Dog smooches to Darach!

Always a treat when a new video from you appears. Rivetted by this one. Thank you. Going to look for the book you recommended.

Glen Ferrick was one of my old haunts. One of my favourite trees in Scotland is right at the top of the hill. Seen herds of 60 red deer inside the fence unfortunately, certainly pine regen round the fringes but where there’s cover for the deer there’s hardly any regen. Also saw what was probably the last capercaillie of Glen Ferrick a few years ago. Not faring well in Glen Tanar either. In relation to broadleaved species & a lack of seed source; totally agree there is a lack of seed source & people often forget that & just assume they aren’t growing whereas actually it’s just going to take a bit of time for them to get established. However, on top of this, browsing pressure is so high that often even if they do establish they get browsed to bits & eventually give up. Look at places like Mar Lodge, Cairngorms Connect or Corrour where deer numbers have been kept low for a while; birch is popping up everywhere despite the low seed source, as are willows & even aspen are popping up in places they weren’t before. If you imagine that deer pressure had been kept low enough for broadleaf regen for the same period that it’s been low enough for pine regen then think how much more broadleaf regen we’d have by now! It’s worth the wait, and worth fully understanding/studying what’s going on on sites like this. e.g. I did a survey on a site where they thought it was all just pine & birch, but of 35 randomly-placed plots, 2 of them had pedunculate oak. If you scale that up then potentially around about 5% of the ground might have oak, it’s just being hammered & is therefore not obvious. Obviously a very crude way of demonstrating my point but basically, quash the deer numbers & be patient! 😁

Very inspiring. I walked through this area in 1995 and it has improved massively.

Hi, I thought the pines in this area of Scotland hade a higher average lifespan, more like 400 years? Is the forest in low attitude? I Norway, pines in higher attitudes can reach over 700 yeras of age, even though its rare. Is there a lot of dead wood in the forest? Like that have been decaying for a long time on the ground?

Great stuff! I live in Inverness but my parents live in Aberdeen so i have explored a lot of the eastern forests and glens, love it down there. The area around Loch Kinord and the Dinnet nature reserve is stunning place to explore. Get yourself and Darrach down there for a weekend, you'll love it, especially the Vat gorge. Glad you got your drone back👍

Really came away with a good positive vibe from what you shared here. The descriptions and explanations are honest and uplifting. The drone footage is amazing and enables us to appreciate the scale of the woodlands you’re in. Glad you have the drone back .🙏🏻🙌🏻👍🏻🌲Grateful for your efforts and Darach’s (splg?) help. 😊

What a great video and thank you for this excellent work. I have always loved Scotland's native woodlands and planted my first tree to help regenerate our native woodlands in 1985. Controlling deer numbers to help the regeneration was, along with feeding my family, one of the main motivations for me to get involved with deer stalking. I have never liked the "Highland Sporting Estate" system where an excessive number of deer were kept on the land to supply, mainly, trophy stags for rich client shooters willing to pay lots of money. The "Highland Sporting Estate" system has (along with state subsidised sheep farming) destroyed the native woodlands in much of the highlands and cannot be allowed to continue. Scotland should learn from the many countries where deer numbers are kept in balance with natural woodland regeneration through hunting done by local people who do not have to pay a fortune to do it, and they also get to feed their families from this. Often the land (or shooting rights) is owned by the local community, or the state, and qualified/trained local people can, for minimal cost, shoot the deer as part of a controlled deer management system. Scotland needs to seriously think about modifying who should own/control the wild (non-farming) land/shooting rights of this country. Maybe it is time to end the "Traditional Highland Estate" system and to bring the land/shooting rights into public/community ownership/control.

so chuffed you got the drone back mate - its a christmas miracle ;) seriously, thanks for another awesome vid - ur the most honest and knowledgeable and heartfelt creator on Scottish forrests keep them coming !!!! :)

I really wish our entire country looked like these woodland. Everywhere.

Drones are tough 😁 The gods were with you 😉 Good luck 🍀

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Outstanding ! The only thing I would add would be an XL Carhartt Black level 4 Dog Coat to keep the chill of his back… He seriously looked cold and a Carhartt Dog Coat is inexpensive and would be greatly appreciated !

Great video dude! The bothy is known as Ivor's bothy. Camustrolvaig is the name of the township that the building was part of. There are ruins of another couple of buildings there although they might be overgrown now. I stayed in the bothy a few times years ago. If you ever go back, bring a fishing rod with you. There is bass, pollock and mackerel there. Best time for fishing is Aug and Sept👍

Trying best to cut down and quit cafine/coffee then this comes up on my shorts! Cheers sam I feel attacked 🤣🤣

Giving up is not an option - a very strong statement🔥Thank you for being yourself and take good care of you, Sam 🙌

Futility never seems to ebb but flows unimpeded even in a small forest (approx. 17 acres) where I volunteer. It is unequivocally demoralizing and leaves me with more inquiries rather than solutions, though whisky provides a modest amount of problem solving. Nonetheless, we press on because these woodlands we cherish, respect, admire, need, and venerate don't deserve our antagonism or dominion.

The music playing is Tennessee by zimmer and that place reminds me of my little part of the world in east Tennessee USA.

My brother and I collect pine rosin from fallen trees to keep as fire starters.

Looking forward to more videos Sam. Hope all is well with you mate.

Looks like a great time my friend! ☕️ 🔥

Good Lord! Gorgeous scenery - love your drone work.

Hey Sam! Good to see you again. Nothing quite like the sounds of a forest. Hope all is well. Good to see Darach enjoying a cup of joe with you.

Thanks!

Love the Forest Thoughts! Thank you for the education .

The music, the scenery and of course, Darach. You have an amazing life. I would love to spend a week with y'all in your neck of the woods. I've always been an admirer of nature. Not much of a city guy here. Thanks for the adventures. Greetings from east Tennessee USA. Peace my friend.

Thankfully there's information, hard work, desire/determination provided by people like you who continually try to share and educate the people about how we can regenerate our island for the future ❤ thank you ❤

Love the sounds of the forest.

I had to look up this musical artist after hearing him on your channel. Now i have subscribed to you both. You're so amazing.

You are amazing! These journeys are a nice escape from all the crazy in the world. Thank you. Peace from east Tennessee USA.

I'm late on this one but i really like your videos! You're clearly in your element. Thanks for the journey. Greetings from east Tennessee USA.

I'm always looking forward to the Forest thoughts and was not disappointed this time either! I think it is so important how you give your honest opinion and tell it like it is. Faking and forcing positivity never lead to change. I've found it very difficult to find hope too but like you said: there really is no alternative (not saying it in the Maggie T way I swear 😅) I think the things you mentioned in the video (wars, genocide, environmental destruction etc.) are all linked and we need to educate ourselves on what and who all this actually serves. And what kind of social, economical, political and personal changes we need to go through to save what there is to be saved. Thank you for the video, the stove and the tent looked very cozy! Lots of love to Darach as well ❤

Its a lot, and I totally understand feeling hopeless or helpless. But even you using this platform is a step in the right direction. How can someone like me, a scottish lowlander help with this?