Leading scientists, land managers and environmental campaigners have set out what must be done to save Scotland’s ancient forest, saying, “we must not stand by and see them lost”.

The group have published a paper outlining the steps required to overcome threats to Scotland’s “magnificent formations of nature”, Caledonian pinewoods. The risks it details include overgrazing by excessive deer numbers, inappropriate fencing, mounding and planting, and the invasion of non-native species, including rhododendrons.

Plantings near pinewoods, like those at Kinrara by former ‘Lost Forest’ owners, Brewdog, which were supported by Scottish Government funding, are among those criticised by some of the authors.