One of Scotland’s biggest community land buyouts is doubling to more than 4,200 hectares, following a mammoth fundraising effort.
The Dumfriesshire town of Langholm has just succeeded in raising £2.2 million (€2.6 million) to buy 5,300 acres (around 2,100 hectares) from the Duke of Buccleuch, one of the UK’s most powerful landowners.
It will join the first, similarly-sized plot the community secured last year, thereby maximising the benefits of the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve for people, nature and climate on precious peatland.
“This is about a grassroots fightback against the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis, and helping to create a better future,” says Jenny Barlow, estate manager of the reserve.
Restoring this degraded land is a key part of the initiative’s plans - ensuring it remains a huge carbon sink rather than an emitter. The team are also working with the Woodland Trust to expand the area’s ancient woodland, removing conifer plantations and replacing them with native trees.
Source: Euronews
