Artist’s painting of Glen Loyne Pine to highlight plight of Scotland’s wild Scots pines
A striking painting by renowned artist Dan Llywelyn Hall of the iconic Glen Loyne Pine – Scotland’s oldest wild Scots pine – will be unveiled at the Society of Antiquaries’ summer exhibition in London on July 25. The exhibition aims to raise awareness of the dwindling Caledonian pinewoods in the Highlands and the need for urgent restoration efforts.
The painting, along with limited edition prints, will be sold and the proceeds will go towards the restoration work of Trees for Life, a charity dedicated to preserving and expanding the globally unique pinewoods in Scotland.
This exhibition marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest, which were issued in 1225. The Charter was the first environmental legislation in the UK and brought together forest-related rules from the Magna Carta.
The Caledonian pinewoods, home to iconic Scottish wildlife such as the red squirrel, golden eagle, capercaillie, and wildcat, have been reduced to less than 2% of their original area. Only 84 remnants are officially recognized, scattered across the Highlands and often in poor condition.
Many of these remnants consist of a few ancient trees, known as Granny pines, that are hundreds of years old but have no young trees growing around them to replace them when they die. Dan Llywelyn Hall’s painting of the 567-year-old Glen Loyne Pine illustrates the dire situation faced by these woodlands.
Steve Micklewright, chief executive of Trees for Life, said: “Dan’s atmospheric painting of the Glen Loyne Pine – standing alone in the dramatic Highland landscape – shows the desperate plight of many of our native pinewoods. His brush strokes say more about the situation than words ever can.”
He added, “Scotland’s native pinewoods should be playing a key role in the fightback against the nature and climate emergencies, but most are on their last legs. We need urgent landscape-scale restoration and rewilding – backed by the Scottish Government – to save, expand and connect up these precious woodlands before it’s too late.”
The original pinewoods covered 1.5 million hectares of the Highlands but were gradually cleared for timber and grazing land. Today, overgrazing by deer is the primary reason for their continued decline.
A recent analysis by Trees for Life concluded that high impacts from artificially large deer populations are the main barrier to the pinewoods’ recovery and that urgent measures are needed to help them recover.
In response to this issue, 25 organizations, including Trees for Life, Woodland Trust Scotland, and public agencies Forestry and Land Scotland and NatureScot, formed the Caledonian Pinewood Partnership to boost restoration efforts.
Dan Llywelyn Hall, a painter known for his vivid landscapes and portraiture, hopes that this partnership will be inspired by the Charter of the Forest and develop a new charter for Scotland’s pinewoods, one where the harmony between nature and human needs is paramount.
The Magna Carta 1225: 800th Anniversary Exhibition at the Society of Antiquaries will run until September 19 and will also feature three other newly commissioned paintings by the artist. All of these paintings depict ancient forests or specific trees that were alive when the Charter of the Forest was drawn up in 1217.
After the exhibition, the paintings will be sold, and the proceeds will be divided between Trees for Life, the Society of Antiquaries Library and Collection, and other beneficiaries.
The Glen Loyne Pine, dated to at least 1458 by the St Andrews Tree-Ring Laboratory, is believed to be even older. It is located in a remote ancient woodland of 57 pines, all several centuries old, scattered through Glen Lloyne in the northwest Highlands.
Trees for Life is dedicated to rewilding the Highlands, including by restoring the Caledonian forest. To learn more about their work, visit treesforlife.org.uk.
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