Wild Strathfillan Project – Deer fence installation at Crom Allt Gorge, Tyndrum

Description

Wild Strathfillan is an ambitious landscape-scale nature restoration initiative which covers approximately 50,000 Ha of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The restoration of upland woodland, a scarce and fragmented habitat, forms a key part of the suite of nature restoration initiatives that will be delivered across the landscape. This project aims to protect a remnant area of upland woodland and scrub, through natural regeneration and some limited planting, as well as restoration of the woodland ground flora and tall herb vegetation. To do this the lower section of the gorge will need to be protected from grazing livestock and deer. This contract will deliver a 6.1 ha deer-fenced exclosure around the gorge. Lot 1: We require permanent deer fencing to be supplied and installed, creating one deer-fenced exclosure (alignments and lengths are shown in Appendix 1 of tender document) with two deer-proof pedestrian access gates (self-closing). Two large water gates will be required across the Crom Allt, and smaller water gates will be required across at least two of the burns on the west facing slope, east of the gorge. FLS plan to extract the timber from the adjacent Sitka block in the next few years and require a road to be installed somewhere within the hashed area shown on the map below (Figure 1), therefore, the fence should not be erected within this area. A gap of at least 30m is required between the existing FLS Sitka Spruce plantation and the new fence, to allow sheep access off the hill. Note, the final route of the fence may be altered following discussions and a field visit with the fence contractor.. Contract Value: In the region of 20-25 GBP per metre (excl. VAT). - Award contract Jan 2025 - Lead-in period Feb-Apr 2025 - Prestart meeting May 2025 - Fence installation Jun-Jul 2025