Sunart Rainforest Project – A Greener Future for our Community.
We’re excited to share news of a major step forward in protecting and restoring one of our area’s greatest natural treasures – the Atlantic rainforest of Sunart.
Starting in April 2025, running through to March 2026, the Sunart Community Company is delivering the Sunart Rainforest Project—a year-long initiative focused on reviving our native temperate rainforest.
Funded by the Nature Restoration Fund (NatureScot), with match funding from The Woodland Trust, FLS, and Scottish Government RPID, the project will lay the foundations for long-term woodland recovery and resilience.
Spanning the area between Loch Sunart and Loch Shiel, the project brings together seventeen landowners committed to a shared vision of ecological restoration.
Activities will include developing a collaborative deer management plan, surveying biodiversity and invasive species, and exploring opportunities for woodland expansion.
We’re delighted to announce that a local project coordinator, Euan Palmer, has now been appointed to lead engagement with landowners and the wider community, and to help coordinate the delivery of the project on the ground.
They’ll also support the re-establishment of a local woodland owners’ group and help shape woodland management plans across the region.
This project is about much more than ecology—it’s about empowering our community, building local knowledge, and reconnecting people with the rainforest landscape we’re lucky to call home.
We’ll be sharing updates as things progress, and we hope you’ll get involved in this exciting journey to protect and restore the Sunart rainforest for generations to come.
Together, these two woodland initiatives (Longrigg Community Woodland and Sunart Rainforest Project) represent a major investment in Sunart’s natural heritage and our shared future.
Project supported by:
Key Documents
SUNART RAINFOREST AREA HABITAT RESTORATION PLAN
All information relating to the restoration of natural habitats within the Sunart Rainforest area will be hosted on this site, and updated as appropriate going forwards.
The restoration plan is still in development, and links will be made live to access documents as they are finalized and agreed. Any comments on the development of the plan can be addressed to euan@sunartcommunitycompany.co.uk or victor@nativewoods.co.uk
The following pages are available for browsing:
- The deer management plan
- The wider restoration plan, which will consider other threats and how they can be addressed, and which also sets out opportunities for restoration.
Minutes:
Download and view our recent working group minutes:
Sunart-Rainforest-Meeting-Notes-1st-April-25.pdf
Sunart Rainforest Meeting Notes – 30th April 2025
Sunart Rainforest Meeting Notes: June 2025
Sunart Rainforest Meeting Notes: 24th July 2025
Sunart Rainforest Meeting Notes – 18th September 2025