Up to 2,500 trees are to be lost at a Perthshire wood after damage caused during this winter’s storms.
Work will get under way later this month to clear the trees at Huntly Wood, near Longforgan.
The trees have been left in an unsafe condition following storms Arwen, Barra, Malik and Corrie.
Visitors to the site are being warned that access will be limited as the work gets under way, with the car park being shut.
Unsafe trees to be ‘extracted’ at Perthshire site
A spokesman for the Woodland Trust told The Courier: “The east side of the wood is closed due to many hung up trees, but the west side is still open for walks.
“We are going to start clearing up the damage soon and will need our car park area for stacking and extracting the timber.
“We are extracting 2,000-2,500 trees – mostly spruce and pine, with some beech and fir.
“These have become unsafe due to the recent storms.
“In plantation woodlands, where trees are all a similar size, the loss of a few to high winds often makes the rest vulnerable to future problems.
“It is safest to pre-empt this by removing the trees at risk.”
The trust says the wood will be replanted with native trees.
The spokesman added: “The carpark at Huntly Wood will be closed from Monday February 21 for four to six weeks while we clear up storm damage and extract timber.
“The east side of the wood will remain open to people arriving on foot, but the west side is closed. We ask the public to heed all signage.
“Our Backmuir Wood may be an alternative place to visit for those driving.”
Devastation to trees during storms
The devastation to forested areas across Tayside and Fife in recent months has been significant.
At the end of last month, storms Corrie and Malik claimed hundreds of trees at Angus golf clubs while one Edzell home was damaged when a tree crashed into it – one of hundreds in the area felled by the winds.
But the biggest impact came during Storm Arwen with hundreds of incidents reported to councils across the region.
The clear-up operation has been continuing ever since with some areas still out of bounds for visitors.
