PITCASTLE & GLENLOCHAY ESTATES Strathtay, Perthshire
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There’s no future in being dependent on hand-outs, this estate has to be self-sustaining, it’s that simple.
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Struan Robertson is owner of Pitcastle Estate in Highland Perthshire. But this is more than just about having his name on the title deeds; this is his family’s home and his connection with the land is strong. Struan is no romantic however, and his plans for the estate are rooted firmly in sound business principles. Pitcastle at 600 hectares offers little for the ambitious restorationist so at the suggestion of his estate manager, Donnie Broad, himself a deep thinker about the relationship between people and the land, Struan bought neighbouring Glenlochay Estate in 2005. Upon initially viewing the 6,000 hectare hill ground, Struan quickly concluded,
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“Lovely but needs some trees!” Struan is a quiet unassuming man but with a confident demeanour born out of his many years in business. It is that business experience, along with his clear emotional attachment to Pitcastle, and now Glenlochay, that he now brings to bear on his estate management. The quest at Glenlochay is to plant 1 million native trees and to restore the bare hillsides to a vibrant forest rich in wildlife.Yet any notion that this is a benevolent ecological gesture, an idealistic hankering after a long-lost wilderness, is quickly dispelled. Struan wants to make money.
“Of course there are aesthetic considerations to what we’re doing, but in the long term, I need to find new ways of making money from a Scottish estate.There’s no future in being dependent on hand-outs; this estate has to be self-sustaining, it’s that simple.” Struan is in this for the long haul. Planting on this scale needs careful planning and he’s already spent £150,000 on Environmental Impact Assessments. These trees are for keeps; they’re not going to be harvested; this will be a truly wild forest. Similar thought and commitment is going into building the foundations for healthy wildlife populations, with the genes of stud stags purchased from a managed herd, already infiltrating his local deer. “We will eventually sell our stag stalking for £1000 a beast - they will be the biggest and the best, but that doesn’t happen by accident, you have to give them prime habitat.” Introducing park deer to open ground to improve the sport is nothing new, but Struan and his team are not looking at a quick fix that lasts just a few years, they’re taking on a ground-up approach to ensure the long term health of both their deer and that of a wide range of other species. The forest restoration at Glenlochay includes plans for larger native herbivores like elk and bison, but again Stru-
an’s rewilding objectives are founded on sound economic principles, which have sustainability at their core. “I don’t want to create a zoo; I want people to have a true wildlife experience, comparable with anywhere in the world, whether they’re carrying a rifle or a camera. To get there we need to restore the forest but the businessman in me demands that all of these steps make good business sense. Good habitat means good deer and other game. If there are ecological benefits, great but that’s not why I’m doing this - this is about ensuring long term sustainability.” Struan who is looking down the barrel at his mid-sixties and weary of endless business functions, is looking to retire at Pitcastle and to put in place a legacy that will serve not only his family, but also the loyal staff that work alongside him, staff like Donnie and head stalker Jimmy Barrie It’s a team effort. It’s an ambitious and exciting team effort. www.pitcastle.com
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