Baird Lumsden, the specialist rural department of DM Hall Chartered Surveyors, has been given the responsibility of managing Cashel Forest, where 3000 acres of hillside are being transformed using sound forestry practice into native working Scottish woodland.

The firm has been instructed to act as factors and manage the spectacular property for three years until 2020 by the Royal Scottish Forestry Society which bought Cashel Farm in 1996 and began its ambitious regeneration as a Millennium project.

Billed as a “Forest for a Thousand Years”, Cashel Forest now represents most of the different woodland types which are native to Scotland following the last ice age and has become an important community asset and tourist attraction.

Syd House, Chair of the RSFS’s Forest Trust which owns and looks after Cashel, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Baird Lumsden in taking forward our plans for Cashel. We have ambitious plans to build on the excellent work done by our predecessors and having the expertise of Baird Lumsden to support that work will be invaluable.”

Baird Lumsden will provide management services and advice to ensure the efficient management of the forest as well as dealing with administration and overseeing the use of the Forest Centre and Barn, which offers a countryside retreat.

Donald Yellowley, director of the Bridge of Allan-based firm, said: “Cashel is in the heart of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and is a major contributor to the attraction of the area.

“Visitors can enjoy a truly beautiful spot covered in trees such as birch, oak, juniper and hazel with views out across the islands of Loch Lomond as well as across the moorland to the popular Conic Hill.

“The Royal Scottish Forestry Society has performed a particularly valuable service with this imaginative regeneration and Baird Lumsden is honoured to have been chosen to oversee its sustainable management.”

The Royal Scottish Forestry Society is a charity devoted to the advancement of forestry in all its sectors, including the forestry or timber industry, conservation and woodland management, as well as academics and enthusiastic amateurs who love trees and care for the environment.

Cashel Forest hosts three popular walks – the Memorial Way, the Red Loop and the Green Loop, whose high point, Queen’s View, was named after the Queen of the Netherlands. She was brought by her ambassador to inspect the farm’s pedigree Galloway cattle.

The forest has also built a small hydro-electric scheme to generate clean, renewable electricity using water from the Cashel Burn, which is then returned to the burn so that plants and animals can continue to thrive.

It supports a wide range of wildlife, including frogs, toads, butterflies, adders, slow-worms, pine martens and lizards.