wetland near foyers

The project

 
The project began in April 2007 when a small group of Foyers residents discussed the prospect of using the field adjacent to Easter Boleskine for a Wetlands Project. An approach was made to the Forestry Commission for Scotland (FCS) and a meeting was arranged. FCS were enthusiastic about the proposal but first had to arrange visits by land management specialists, an ecologist and a civil engineer. All were favourable to the proposal and discussions then centered on whether the project should proceed as a Community land purchase or as a Partnership with FCS. This latter course was agreed upon in view of FCS’s in-house experience and expertise. Before proceeding too far, it was felt judicious to approach the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) who has the power to veto any plan that involves impoundment of water. SEPA sent a representative to view the site who expressed the view that the site clearly had been a pond in the distant past and that the proposals represented a re-instatement. As such they expected to give their formal proposal subject to surveys and maps being submitted.
  

 

Birds eye veiw of the wetland

Aerial shot of site before work commenced

  
 

 

Site from the North on exiting the forest

Site from the North on exiting the forest

  

We then proceeded by excavating four trial trenches on the site to establish water table levels. All four successfully filled with water within a few hours and remained full until they were subsequently infilled for safety purposes. In three of the trenches the water level rose to within 250 mm of the ground surface level. The results were therefore very encouraging. A FCS civil engineer visited the site to survey and measure the contours in order to prepare a topographical map. From this, the first suggested landscape drawings were prepared showing the planned pond, watercourses and planting.

 
 

 

The Engineer required extensive depth probes all over the site to establish the hard/mineral base and this task was carried out by committee members. Toward the end of 2007 an application was made to the BBC Breathing Places scheme for grant funding from the Lottery Fund. Breathing Places is a major BBC Learning campaign to inspire and motivate communities to create and care for nature-friendly green spaces in their local area. Grants were available to small schemes with a total budget of below £25,000 and the maximum grant claimable was £10,000. Success with this would ensure that there was almost enough money for the excavations to proceed.  

 

south veiw

Site from the South

 
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