WildNet - Jim Higham
Ramsey Forest Project
The Island’s first forest
The Ramsey Forest Project is working to create the Island’s first forest by expanding and linking the glens, plantations and woodlands between Ramsey and Sulby. Launched in 2014, the aim was to increase woodland cover from 20% to 30% over the next 30 years.
Through planting new native woodland, the Ramsey Forest will become a biodiversity hot-spot on the island, conveying many benefits to people as well as wildlife.
Ramsey Forest Project
(c) AD
Ben Hall/2020VISION
A woodland for wildlife and people
Recreation opportunities will increase as we open up access to more woodland, particularly government plantations. We will make some woodlands more accessible through better paths to create nature trails, a running track, mountain bike access and hopefully, a new National Glen. We will enhance and improve the existing landscape by planting more parkland trees along the Lezayre road, native woodlands on the lower scarp slopes of the hills and trees in parks, gardens and along the streets of Ramsey Town.
We will reach out to the entire community to become engaged and to benefit from the forest, by involving children, putting in access for people with mobility problems and inviting organisations to hold events and activities. The Ramsey Forest Project has been supported by the Isle of Man Government.
The benefits
A key benefit of the new forest will be to encourage economic regeneration. Some of this will be through the increased trade that will come from more visitors, some through new craft, forestry and recreation business and some will simply come because the Ramsey Forest area will be an attractive place to invest. There will be lots of other benefits too: new woodlands will help mitigate floods; carbon will be locked away, mitigating climate change; more people exercising will create a healthier community and finally, woodlands are a superb local educational resource.
Find out more
Living Landscapes
Ramsey Forest is a Living Landscape project. Living Landscape projects have been set up across the British Isles. They are projects designed to reconnect nature across the landscape to create robust ecosystems where nature can move and flourish.
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Hairpin Woodland Park
The Hairpin Woodland Park is Manx Wildlife Trust's flagship Ramsey Forest site. Find out more here!
Margaret Holland
Can you help?
We will rely on volunteers to plant trees and create footpaths. We need help to design infrastructure and local businesses to sponsor us. We need landowners to allow us to plant trees on their land.
Guy Edwardes/2020VISION
Support our work
We need to raise over £30,000 a year for the first ten years to see this vision become a reality.