Our Nature Reserves

Highland Titles and our Nature Reserves

The first Highland Titles Nature Reserve is located at Duror, Appin, Scotland. Purchased in 2007, the estate is managed by Highland Titles. The Nature Reserve is visited by thousands of people every year.  We meet and greet dozens of visitors every day, and are proud that Visit Scotland, Scotland’s official tourist board, raised our rating from three to four stars in 2015. The nature reserve is now the most popular nature reserve in Scotland, according to Tripadvisor.  We work hard to ensure that our visitors are delighted.  In 2014 Highland Titles opened their second reserve, overlooking Loch Loyne. Named Bumblebee Haven, it is being managed to support insect life, and in 2015 we gifted 4 Ha to the cause of the Scottish wildcat. We are pleased to have been able to make it possible for Wildcat Haven to establish their own fund raising arm. Together we CAN save the Scottish Wildcat.

We have now expanded our reach to manage six nature reserves and full details can be found here: www.highlandtitles.com/nature-reserves/

Click to take a virtual Google Streetview tour
Click to take a virtual Google Streetview tour

We hope you can come and visit us. But for those who cannot we have arranged that with Google Streetview anyone can take a virtual “Walk in the Woods” and visit the Highland Titles Nature Reserve on the internet (filmed in 2014). Just click on the picture above to get started.

Ownership

The Highland Titles Nature Reserve at Duror is registered with the Scottish government in the Registers of Scotland as ARG14245.  Registers of Scotland (RoS) is responsible for compiling and maintaining registers relating to property and other legal documents. They record and safeguard rights whilst providing open and efficient access to important information.

Where is Glencoe Wood?

The Highland Titles Nature Reserve at Duror encompasses three small woods. Lairds Wood, Glencoe Wood and the newly established Diamond Jubilee Wood.  These woods are in Appin, in the Scottish Highlands,

The Nature Reserve

We have two Facebook pages with 200,000 supporters
We have two Facebook pages with 200,000 supporters

We strongly encourage everyone to visit the Highland Titles Nature Reserves and we advertise them as visitor attractions with Visit Scotland (the Scottish Tourist Board),  in the Landmark Press, and on local tourist maps.  We are members of Discover Glencoe, who actively support visitors to the magnificent Glencoe area. We can be readily located on Google maps and are featured in Tourist Information centres locally.

Highland Titles are rightly proud of their flagship conservation project. Those unable to visit, can follow daily activity on the Facebook page.

Bumblebee Haven

Ownership

The Mountainview Nature Reserve at Glen Loyne is registered with the Scottish government in the Registers of Scotland as INV32526.  Registers of Scotland (RoS) is responsible for compiling and maintaining registers relating to property and other legal documents. They record and safeguard rights whilst providing open and efficient access to important information.

2015 Trees being planted by Trees for Life
2015 Trees being planted by Trees for Life

The  Highland Titles Nature Reserve, Bumblebee Haven at Mountainview, Lochaber, was opened in 2014 following the construction of a 3km woodland track to enable visitors to walk down to Loch Loyne.

Following advice from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Highland Titles asked Trees For Life, who manage local estate Dundreggan and who have planted over 1 million trees in the 25 year history, to plant up a bumblebee friendly wood.

Bumblebee Haven is a mixed woodland planted on upland blanket peat on the banks of Loch Loyne, Inverness-shire, 10 miles from Invergarry and 46 miles south-west of Inverness. The woodland is mainly Sitka Spruce, a non-native species of tree which will have to be removed and replaced. It was planted in 1988 and in addition to the Sitka spruce it contains Lodgepole pine, with a few rowan, silver birch and grey willow.

The ground slopes down to Loch Loyne. The peaty soils support a number of specialist acid-loving and acid-tolerant plants and bryophytes, including four species of Sphagnum moss, hare’s-tail cotton grass and bog asphodel.

Bumblebee Haven at Loch Loyne
Bumblebee Haven at Loch Loyne

Several bumblebee species have been previously recorded within 10km of the wood:

  1. Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
  2. Gypsy cuckoo bee (Bombus bohemicus)
  3. Common carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)
  4. Broken-belted bumblebee (Bombus soroensis)
  5. Blaeberry Bumblebee (Bombus monticola)
  6. White tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum )

Of these species, 3 are relatively common (Early, Common carder and White tailed), 1 is less common (Gypsy cuckoo) and the most significant in terms of rarity are the Blaeberry bumblebee and the Broken-belted bumblebee.

Highland Titles also owns and operates the following Nature Reserves:

Kilnaish Estate, is 300 acres of land near Tarbert on the West Coast.

We sell 10 square foot and 100 square foot plots of land are sold from here. As well as being a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), this land offers superb views off Scotland’s West Coast towards the Isle of Gigha.

If you do decide to visit the easiest way is using the What3Words location app.

The location of the reserve on What3Words is:
///serenade.fish.calculating

Glen Nant is a very different project to our other nature reserves. Whilst the reserves at Duror, Mountainview and Kilnaish have scope for long term rewilding projects, the land at Glen Nant is untouched ancient oak woodland and we simply aim to protect it and keep it that way.

Nature Scot have an existing management plan, and we hope that our ability to move quickly (in comparison to a government agency) will allow us to assist.

Visiting Glen Nant Reserve

We will not sell plots of land from this location and whilst you a free and welcome to visit, please bear in mind that the land has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation.

Tulloch Farm is the family farm where our journey began. No plots have been sold from this location since 2006.   Tulloch Farm is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

In 2021 alone we planted approximately 14000 trees here in the old sheep fields which will greatly assist in rewilding the land.

The main species we planted are sessile oak, alder, silver birch and aspen.

Other species we planted include hazel, bird cherry, willow, crab apple and rowan, creating a really diverse mix.

The unplanted areas to the east of the farm, and north of the railway, are areas of deep peat. These will be left unplanted and allowed to regenerate naturally.

Tulloch Reach is several miles of riparian margin within Tulloch Farm.

Slievekirk Wood takes its name from the nearby Slievekirk Mountain, which rises above the Faughan Valley to a height of over 1000 feet. Faughan Valley is one of the most wooded landscapes in Northern Ireland, benefitting from two ancient woodland sites and a number of more recent conservation projects.

Slievekirk Wood was planted predominantly with birch trees around 15 years ago. Plenty of sunlight breaches the canopy, and shines on the silver bark. The woodland is a haven for birdlife, and red deer can be seen from time to time.  The beautiful jay bird is a frequent visitor.

As you enter the woodland, a small wooden footbridge aids access over the drainage ditch and an informal, winding path leads through the birch, oak and Scots pine trees. At the far side of the wood, a rustic bench has been installed and there are some lovely views over Derry/Londonderry, Lough Foyle and the Donegal Hills.

13 Replies to “Our Nature Reserves”

  1. We all had a great visit to the Highland Titles Nature Reserve today. We found it well maintained, easily accessible and with easy (and free) parking. Very good paths and walkways around the lake and the woods with clear markings and we picked up a free map. Clean disabled accessible toilets and friendly staff (who were volunteers I think). David showed us around. Recommend to all who like the outdoors and fresh air.

  2. I gave this to my Scottish husband. He was thrilled with it. We went to see the property this past May and were given a grand tour by Stewart. My husband and I then renewed our wedding vows, which was a surprise arranged with my daughter and the folks at Highland Titles up by the lake. It’s an amazing place!

  3. We spent our afternoon building a “shelter” so we had a shady spot to eat our lunch and play in. Then we went on a bug hunt to see how many different types of insects were living around us, counting the different types and learning their names. We will come again soon. What a great day

  4. The reserve at Duror is a real haven for lovers of the outdoors, with excellent well thoughtout paths and a couple of hides to allow you to see the Scottish wildlife around the lochan. Thanks for the binoculars provided. I watched a red squirrel feeding close up. Lovely place to spend a couple of hours quietly with nature. (bit cold though – can you fix that??!)

  5. When planning my trip to Scotland for my hubby’s milestone birthday, of course we had to visit “our land.” When we arrived, another couple was getting directions to their plot, so hubs started looking up his on the app. Fortunately, before we took off hiking, the ranger in the office was freed up and able to locate our plots and provide better direction. My land was uphill in a very soggy area, so we set off to find my husband’s.
    After a nice hike uphill through the beautiful nature preserve, we headed down a cleared area near the woods where his plot is. We celebrated and recognized the day with our friends, and took lots of pictures to preserve the memory. Very enjoyable!

  6. ich war vor 10 Monate für 4 Tage in Schottland und bin von Edinburgh über Glen Coe bis nach Oban und von dort am Loch Lomond vorbei wieder zurück gefahren. Und Schottland ist auch im Winter traumhaft – vor allem das Glen Coe Tal mit Schnee.

    Ich hatte auch eine Whisky Destillerie besucht, das darf meiner Meinung auf keinen Fall fehlen!
    Für’s Whisky-Tasting bietet sich aber auch der Flughafen an

  7. Die Natur macht es uns in gemächlichem Rhythmus vor: Ohne grosszügige Ruhephasen gibt es kein Gedeihen und Wachsen. Alles hat seine Zeit. Und wer sich diesem natürlichen Rhythmus verweigert erschwert sich sein Dasein nur unnötig.

  8. The whole ethos of this project is environmentally sound with no chemical use, for example using pigs to clear ground naturally. I cannot recommend this Nature Reserve highly enough! We enjoyed several memorable hours here and intend to visit again.

  9. I have given the gift of highland titles to friends so would be so great to visit once I return to Scotland. I would love to see the work being done to conserve the area. This is a great plan and great work. Was there last Easter and I fell in love with the landscape.

  10. You are doing great work. I spend a lot of time up in Appin and wish I could walk in the Caledonian Forest instead of Sitka plantations and the simple woodlands we have now.

  11. I hope that future rewilding involves the reinstatement of Scottish missing species, including the apex predators which play a crucial role in ecosystems.For example the Eurasian lynx, which has already been re-introduced to some parts of Europe such as the Jura mountains and the Alps, is a perfect candidate for reintroduction to the Highlands. It offers a small threat to sheep but none to humans. It is a specialist predator of roe deer and sika deer, species which have multiplied in Scotland in recent years and which prevent the natural regeneration of trees through destructive browsing.

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