A project to transform an area of patchwork woodlands in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, Scotland, into a 16,650-hectare (41,143-acre) forest landscape has received a £1m cash injection from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Centered on Loch Katrine, the natural regeneration and woodland planting scheme will establish the largest native broadleaf woodland in Scotland, and will cover an area the size of the city of Glasgow. Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) secured the £965,500 grant in partnership with Woodland Trust Scotland (WTS). It will be used to part-fund the project which will see the planting of 580 hectares (1,433 acres) of native woodland, as well as the natural regeneration of a further 220 hectares (544 acres).

Funding for the Great Trossachs Forest has also been provided by the Scottish Forest Alliance, a partnership between FCS, WTS, RSPB Scotland and fuel company BP. Michael Russell, Scottish minister for the environment, said: "The Commission has worked closely with the Scottish Forest Alliance and the local community to secure this additional Heritage Lottery Funding.

"As the largest landscape-scle forestry project in the UK, The Great Trossachs Forest promises not only to be lasting testimony to the work of this alliance of public and private sector, but also a landmark achievement in environmental restoration." Colin McClean, head of HLF Scotland, said: "The change in land use and the positive impacts on the natural heritage will help sustain the health of Loch Katrine as Glasgow's water supply."