Why the Isle of Eigg hatched a plan to grow its own trees

A tiny Hebridean island is growing tens of thousands of trees to create a sustainable supply of wood for fuel and to support natural habitats.

Eigg has no mains power and its population of about 80 people rely on small renewable electricity schemes and stoves to light and warm their homes.

Over about the last five years, islanders have planted more than 50,000 trees grown from seeds collected from the island's woods and a forestry plantation.

The saplings, which are said to be well adapted to the island's windy weather, have also been sent off to other islands including Uist and Barra.

Eigg along with Muck, Canna and Rum, is one of the Small Isles off Scotland's west mainland coast.

It lies about 12 miles (19km) off Mallaig and is roughly six miles (10km) long and four miles (6km) wide.

Eigg was one of Scotland's first community community buyouts, with islanders taking control of the isle in 1997.

Tasha Fyffe, who was born and brought up on Eigg, manages the island's tree nursery.

It started out as a few seeds planted in outdoor beds in 2018 before a large commercial plastic tunnel was brought over from the mainland in 2019.

She said homegrown trees had better chances of survival than ones imported from the mainland.

"Different species grow in different parts of the island, and they have adapted to the climate - it can often be very windy here," said Fyffe.

"That genetic memory is passed through to the seeds."

The species include native hazel, birch and oak.

The nursery's volunteers have included local schoolchildren, and Fyffe said the project had allowed her to search for trees across the island.

She said thousands of trees have been exported to Muck, Canna and Rum as well as to communities on the west Highland mainland.

An order for trees from crofters in Uist and Barra in the Western Isles led to the uncovering an interesting piece of Hebridean history.

"There was an old trade route from Eigg to the other islands," said Fyffe.

"Eigg used to trade hazelnuts to Uist and Barra in return for any goods they had."

The tree nursery is currently crowdfunding to support its operations, including sending more trees to the Highlands and Islands.