A University of Cambridge-led team used aerial laser scans to map more than six million trees across Scotland’s Cairngorms. The survey found more than 5,235 hectares of previously open land now support young woodland within the Cairngorms Connect partnership.
The maps give restoration partners a clearer way to measure where natural regeneration is working and where additional care may be needed. Better evidence can help people protect the conditions that allow forests to return without assuming every recovery follows the same path.