Fears have been raised that a popular Aberdeen woodland will become a “barren landscape” if more trees are cut down.
Tyrebagger Wood, on the outskirts of the city, was badly hit by storms in 2021 and a huge clearing project has been under way since.
Now a walker has noticed more trees have been marked for felling.
As part of the clear cutting, several sculptures and art installations – which kids have enjoyed discovering as they’ve walked through the woods over the last 30 years – will be removed.
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has insisted the work is essential for safety reasons, and said the sculptures are being removed as they fall into disrepair – as there has never been any maintenance plan in place for them.
A big change and ‘not for the better’
But Mike Simpson, who walks in the wood every day, said he is very concerned by the size of the area marked off for clearing.
He said: “Quite a large swathe of trees have already been removed (following Storm Arwen)
“The prospect from what I’ve seen (in the earmarked area) is that it’s going to be at least twice that – possibly three or four times more.”
The 58-year-old raised concern about the impact on wildlife, and claimed his family – who have lived nearby for 30 years – have already noted dwindling sightings of red squirrels since 2021.
Mr Simpson is also disappointed that several remaining art works from the sculpture trail will be removed.
While some have been vandalised or deliberately taken down over the years after no plan was made to maintain the works, Mr Simpson said the remaining displays are “not insignificant”.
One of these includes the sculpture Cloud Point by Alan Watson.
Mr Simpson said the future of the popular recreational area for “people far and wide” is looking quite bleak.
“It’s going to be a big, big change,” he added. “And definitely not for the better.
“It’s just going to be a very bleak, barren landscape if they do what they want to do.”
‘Do all we can to protect remaining sculptures’
Forestry and Land Scotland said the proposed felling was down to health and safety.
East region manager David Leven said: “Unfortunately, the work we are planning at Tyrebagger – where the trails remain closed for safety reasons – is a knock on consequence of the severe winter storms at the end of 2021.
“Large areas of Tyrebagger were affected at that time and we have since cleared much of the windblow damage from those events.
“However, this opened up the forest to further windblow damage and high winds have blown down exposed and previously sheltered trees – many of them very large trees – that have blocked trails and made the forest unsafe to visit.
“There is also a significant concern that some mature trees are at risk of falling across the A96.”
Unstable trees which will cause further damage if impacted by storms have been inspected and marked for being removed.
As such, two areas have been marked for felling – one along the A96 and another deeper in the forest.
Addressing concerns surrounding the sculpture trail and impacted art installations, he added: “Over the years, these installations have been systematically removed as they have fallen into disrepair but we will do all we can to protect the few remaining pieces.”
Conversation