Mull kiln funding helps save the planet

A development project on Mull has got £32,000 to fund a forest kiln making eco-friendly fertiliser.

 

South West Mull and Iona Development (SWMID) will use the Scottish Government money to buy and set up the special kiln at Tiroran Community Forest where it has a  sawmill.

 

Some of the funding will also help pay for short-term staff to look for and weigh up the best ways of locally using the natural fertiliser, known as biochar, made from the sawmill leftovers. Off-cuts of larch infected with die-back disease Phytopthora ramorum would otherwise be unable to leave the forest.

 

The grant, managed by Inspiring Scotland, has come from the community empowering Rural &  Island Communities: Ideas into Action Fund and is part of a £3million investment from the Scottish Government.

 

SWMID's chairman Cameron Ansun described the new kiln as a tremendous asset for the community, with plans to use the biochar that it produces at some of its other projects, including the Ross of Mull community garden at Bunessan.

 

'Setting up our new biochar kiln at Tiroran Community Forest will be a tremendous asset for the local community. It will enable us to enrich our forest soils, lock up Co2 in the transition to net zero, and develop the potential of biochar locally in conjunction with our other projects, including our community-owned seaweed farm and the community garden,' he said.

 

Biochar can help tackle climate change by reducing Co2 emissions. Made by burning organic matter such as wood, without oxygen, it can lock Co2 into soil for hundreds of years.

 

It also helps to aerate earth, making it easier for plants to absorb nutrients from the soil.

 

News from Tioran Community Forest will be among some of the updates being given on projects at SWMID's annual general meeting coming up at Criech Hall, Fionnphort, on Saturday January 28 at 11am. The meeting is open to all.

 

Last month SWMID was excited to announce new funding from the Co-op Foundation’s £3m Carbon Innovation Fund to help continue its work at community-owned Aird seaweed farm for another two years and explore potential buyers for its carbon-absorbing kelp.