For thousands of years, people depended on forests for food, shelter, and materials, developing a deep understanding of how to take what they needed whilst maintaining a thriving woodland. Today, we still rely on forests, but many of us have lost that everyday relationship.
At the same time, there is a growing desire to engage more directly with the natural world, and a recognition that care and stewardship begin with understanding.
Loskin Wood Experience was created in response to this, and to inspire others. By sharing the story of establishing a productive woodland for both people and nature, managed through regenerative forestry, we show how forests can be part of everyday life and invite guests to experience them as living, managed landscapes for people and nature.
Chris Smithard, Loskin Wood Experience Creator
A Short History of Loskin Wood
Loskin Wood lies within the temperate Atlantic rainforest zone that once stretched along much of the Argyll coast, emerging as the last glacier retreated from Scotland around 10,000 years ago. These richly wooded landscapes shaped both the ecology of the region and the lives of the people who settled here.
Human activity is thought to have taken place in the area for at least 5,000 years. In the adjacent woodland to Loskin, a series of scheduled charcoal burning platforms mark an important chapter in the landscape’s history. While these features date to the 18th and 19th centuries, their form reflects a much longer tradition of woodland use and settlement in the surrounding hills.
During this period, native woodland was carefully managed and coppiced, with timber converted into charcoal to heat local homes and support small scale industry. By this time, Loskin Wood itself had largely become agricultural land, a use that continued into the late 20th century. Around twenty years ago, agricultural use came to an end and the land was left without active management. High levels of deer browsing have prevented natural woodland regeneration from becoming establishing.
Diverse Forests acquired the site in 2023, secured permission for the Loskin Wood Experience in early 2025, and will welcome the first guests to the cabins in 2026.
DIVERSE FORESTS
Loskin Wood is a Diverse Forests project and part of a group of woodlands in Scotland showcasing the power of regenerative forestry for people, nature and timber.
