Ranger Toni Lamont

04/10/2026

What a fantastic group to work with! These scouts were a brilliant representation of young people who are interested in, and engaged with the topic of woodland management. I'm glad to hear they enjoyed the venison that was stalked in Dumfries and Galloway, supporting local food chains as well as conservation work. Hats off to the amazing Scout leaders, especially Kevin for bringing them to Bennel Woods.

17/09/2026

It's a wee bit cold, windy and autumnal outside now, and its making me look back to the beautiful sunny day I spent at Galloway House Gardens with the wonderful Activity Resource Centre from Newton Stewart this summer.

On behalf of Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands, it was a pleasure to take the group down to the beach to explore the wildlife of our coastal woodlands and shoreline. We spent the day discovering what lives along the coast, learning about these amazing habitats and, of course, making the most of the sunshine!

The Activity Resource Centre does fantastic work offering support, activities and personal development opportunities for people aged 16 and over. If you have a learning disability, a physical disability, or an autism spectrum disorder, or need extra support at different times in your life, they can help!

This event was made possible thanks to funding from the Dumfries and Galloway Coastal Benefit Fund.

18/08/2026

Earlier this month we worked with Dumfries & Galloway Befriending Project at Caerlaverock Castle to make some woodland instruments! The Project offers young people experiencing challenges at home, school or in the community, the opportunity of extra support and regular positive adult attention. You can find out more about the work that they do here: https://www.befriending.org/
They are on the look out for new Befrienders, do get in touch if you think you could support a young person in Dumfries and Galloway.

We has such a great time! It's great fun to learn a new skill and use tools with confidence. As well as feel accomplished in making your very own instruments.

These sessions are a part of the Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands Coastal Woodland Quest programme, with funding from the Dumfries and Galloway Coastal Benefit Fund. Thanks so much to our hosts for this session, Historic Environment Scotland.

13/08/2026

What a fantastic way to wrap up our public Coastal Woodland Quest Programme at Bennel Wood yesterday as we became mad scientists for the day! We investigated what life forms existed in the woods and found lots of different species that have adapted to protect themselves in many ways. We had a close look at slaters and seen how their exoskeleton protected them from predation, how common pill millipedes roll up and release an odour to make their predator drop them. We looked at the grasshoppers back legs and how clever they are to use them to spring away from danger. We even spotted a common lizard in the morning session, safe to say there is a lot of life in Bennel Woods!

We then made our own Franken-Bugs, where we combined all of the amazing adaptions different species have to create a bug that can withstand anything. Secretion glands from a toad, with a hard shell form a rain beetle, with feet that you can taste through from a butterfly, we had many clever and creative creations!

To finish off the day we went into the lab to use the microscopes to see what different natural materials looked like up close. We spotted teeny tiny bugs there too. As well as plant adaptions such as small hairs to capture and retain water and dispel bugs.

Thank you to everyone who came along to our sessions, its been a pleasure play and learn with you all!

These sessions are led by Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands with funding from the Dumfries and Galloway Coastal Benefit Fund.

11/08/2026

What a wonderful day we had today for our second last public Coastal Woodland Quest session at Rainton Farm. It was escape room themed where we had to solve many puzzles and clues to escape the woods before the wolves got released! Thankfully I can confirm all children (and adults) made it back to safety alive and well.

We solved anagrams of trees and learned a little bit about them too. Threw bumblebees through flowers, solved riddles, unlocked the code to a lockbox by identifying lots of different animal tracks, and finding some live badger and fox s**t too! We made our very own shields to protect ourselves from the wolves, and identified lots of aspen trees. Did you know that ancient Celtic and Greek peoples used aspen wood to make battle shields? We even made our own tree spirits and balanced our bodies like how our trophic structure is balanced. We sure did pack it all in. Thanks to everyone that came along!

These events are led by Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands with funding from the Dumfries and Galloway Coastal Benefit Fund. Working in partnership with the Solway Coast and Marine Project.

09/08/2026

Over the summer Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands have been working with a number of amazing partner organisations to increase their awareness of our wonderful coastal woodland habitats. Today we were joined by The Depot at Red Haven Bay in Auchenchairn. It was a lovely afternoon as attendees learned more about our only native crab apple tree, Malus Sylvestris. We made apple fritters/doughnuts over a fire, and grated in some native crab apples for a sour kick, which were enjoyed by all. We then finished the afternoon with a walk through to Torr point, guided by Jools, one of our Trustees, who is one of the leaders of the crab apple project. It was great to discuss the project and share some of the findings. You can find out more about the work we have done here:
https://dgwoodlands.org.uk/galloway-crab-apple-action/

This event is part of the Coastal Woodland Quest programme, with funding from the Dumfries and Galloway Coastal Benefit Fund.

08/08/2026

The Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands Coastal Woodland Quest programme stopped by Caerlaverock Castle this week, where we made our own musical instruments from natural materials. We made whistles and jingle sticks, beaters and harps. It was brilliant to see our young participants gain confidence and experience in using tools, as we had to hammer, whittle, saw and chop wood. We then put our instruments to the test as we ventured off into the woods to play music for the birds and the trees.

To find out more about what we are up to, or to attend one of our FREE events for young people aged 5-12, visit: https://dgwoodlands.org.uk/

Next stop is Gatehouse of Fleet on Tuesday for an Escape Room themed session, and to wrap up our programme, back to Bennel Woods in Dalbeattie on Wednesday for some experiments!

This programme uses funding from the Dumfries and Galloway Coastal Benefit Fund.

03/08/2026

What a wonderful day we had today at Barhill Woods! Artist Kirsty Harris led us on a squirreltastic session as we became red squirrels for the day. We learned about how squirrels eat, made ourselves some fantastic ears and tails from natural materials, and then built our own dreys to hide in, and so much more!

These events are part of the Coastal Woodland Quest programme run by Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands with funding from the Dumfries and Galloway Coastal Benefit Fund. Working in partnership with the Solway Coast and Marine Project. Find out more about the programme of FREE events throughout all of Dumfries and Galloway this summer here: https://dgwoodlands.org.uk/coastal-woodland-quests/

02/08/2026

The Coastal Woodland Quests stopped by Annan where we made jewellery from natural materials including, elder, hazel and nettles! First we went a walk and collected some inspiration for our jewellery, looking for different colours and textures from Everholm Park, and learning a bit more about what we found too! With ideas in mind we then got creative as we weaved, hammered, drilled, designed to make beautifully detailed jewellery to take home. It was such a fabulous day!

It's not too late to join in on all the fun as we still have spaces for children aged 8-12 to join us for our FREE sessions at Caerlaverock Castle where we will make our own natural instruments from wood and/or at Gatehouse of Fleet as we will complete an outdoor escape room.

Book your free places here:
Caerlaverock 13:00-15:00 - https://fienta.com/woodvibrations-afternoon

Gatehouse 13:00-15:00- https://fienta.com/escapethewoods-afternoon

These sessions are brought to you by Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands, with funding from the Dumfries and Galloway Coastal Benefit Fund. Working in partnership with the Solway Coast and Marine Project.

28/07/2026

Come along and join the fun!

All Welcome to these FREE Nature events at Powfoot next Sunday 2nd August starting at 11am. Please SHARE Share share…. 🙏
Solway Firth PartnershipThe National Lottery Heritage Fund ScotlandDumfries and Galloway! Whats Going on ?Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO BiosphereGalloway Rivers TrustDumfries and Galloway CouncilRSPB Dumfries and GallowayThe Southern Uplands PartnershipCrichton Carbon CentreSouth West Scotland Environmental Information CentreDumfries & Galloway LifeNatureScotSouth of Scotland EnterpriseAnnan OnlineAnnan Harbour Action Group - Charity Sc46732RSPB ScotlandThe National Lottery Heritage FundPowfoot and CummertreesThe Annandale WayRanger Toni LamontDumfries & Galloway Woodlands