Corrour Partnership
The University has entered a 100-year partnership with Corrour, a 57,000 acre Highland estate near Fort William, to deliver research, teaching, and nature-based carbon. The partnership is predicated on a shared long-term vision for climate mitigation and nature restoration at scale.
Nature & carbon
Corrour are pioneering a different way of managing upland areas. For over 15 years, Corrour have taken a data-led approach to protecting and restoring habitats. The University has invested in these projects as part of The St Andrews Forest programme.
Within this landscape Corrour is reducing browsing pressure to regenerate woodlands and restoring degraded peatlands to attenuate water in upper catchments and abate emissions from exposed peat soils.
Reduced browsing pressure allows for young seedlings and plants that would otherwise have been eaten to grow and establish into woodland and other diverse habitats, resulting in greater biodiversity. These natural processes create a landscape that is resilient and adaptable to climate change.
Stimulating natural regeneration of woodland over part of the site creates a more naturalistic woodland of native species and mixed age classes. This method will create better, more diverse habitat than conventional plantation woodland.
Restoration of degraded peatland sets a historically damaged landscape on the path to recovery. Restoration reinstates higher water tables within bog habitats preventing ongoing release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, beginning a long process to turn carbon sources back into carbon sinks, while reinstating vital habitat for insects and other wildlife.
Research & teaching
The partnership will stimulate interdisciplinary research initiatives and programs at Corrour from across the University. It will be led by a steering group made up of members of both organisations, tasked with delivering research and teaching at Corrour.
A Field Centre at Corrour will accommodate research and field trips. This purpose-built facility is expected to welcome members of St Andrews’s academic community in Summer 2026.
Next
Read more about the projects on Corrour:
Corrour woodland at Loch Treig