Highland residents urged not to drive to Forestry and Land Scotland sites; plea is part of travel restrictions during Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic
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"DON'T drive to our forests during the Covid-19 lockdown," the country's forestry organisation has pleaded ahead of the Easter weekend.
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has closed all of its car parks and visitor centres as part of wider measures to slow the spread of the deadly coronvirus. The move is in line with government rules to restrict travel to essential journeys only.
And FLS has urged people only to visit its forest trails if they live locally and can reach them on foot, bicycle or wheelchair.
All other visitors are being urged to get their daily exercise closer to home.
Simon Hodgson, FLS chief executive, said: “We have made the difficult decision to close our car parks, mountain bike trails and all visitor facilities. Initially our car parks were open but this resulted in a high number of visitors over the Mothers’ Day weekend.
“As a result, in line with government requirements for us all to avoid unnecessary travel to reduce the spread of COVID-19 our car parks have been closed from Monday, March 30.
“We appreciate that fresh air and being outdoors benefits physical and mental health and well-being – especially on long weekends - and local forest trails are open for local visitors.
“Our mountain bike trails however remain closed as our staff, who are working from home, cannot be out and about doing our regular safety checks and maintenance.
“If you can get to one of our forests by walking, by bicycle or by wheelchair, you are very welcome - as long as you follow social distance guidelines. I would urge everyone to follow the current government and NHS health advice.”
Until further notice, all of FLS’s visitor centres across Scotland are closed. This includes the Glenmore Visitor Centre near Aviemore.
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