The Forest - Episode Guide

In this episode, the Forestry Commission's recreation team is tasked with rebuilding steps on a well-worn pathway at Fairy Knowe, but the steps are up a 330-foot hill. Getting hunks of granite rock to the remote hill is one problem and digging them in by hand is another. A team of specialist contractors from Wales arrive in Galloway Forest to harvest timber from the most inaccessible areas using a massive system of cables and winches called the skyline. Deep in the forest, conservationists Bill and Christine breed and hand rear hyacinth macaws, the world's largest flying parrot. And on a remote peatbog the size of 32 football pitches, Graeme Little operates his own customised mulching machine.

In this episode, James Jones sawmill in Lockerbie powers through 20,000 logs a day. But when a six-tonne machine called a crosscut stacker breaks down, a dedicated engineering team must save the day. A decline in salmon numbers in the River Cree near Newton Stewart has led to a tireless effort to restock the river by the Cree Hatchery and Habitat Trust. Archie McNeillie and John Coughtrie from the Forestry Commission's Recreation Department deal with a rat infestation in a public area caused by an overzealous bird feeder. And at Balloch O'Dee campsite, owner James gets ready to stage a comedy night.

In this episode, Planning and Environment forester Bill Fisher surveys the vast forest and checks the health of the cash crop in a helicopter, where the bird's-eye view allows him to better spot any pockets of larch disease. Forestry Commission recreation boss Archie McNeillie attempts to balance the needs of the public with the needs of the timber industry by spray-painting some trees as a marker to the harvesters to save them so the public can still enjoy the scenic views. And Environment forester Gareth Ventress hires some traditional horse loggers to carry out a method called horse rolling in an area of dense bracken. Crushing the bracken using a horse is less damaging to the soil and allows light and space for oak saplings and native herbs and flowers to flourish.

This episode follows three truckers as they track down, load and ferry timber to mills in the UK.

Community liaison forester Lyndy Renwick must decide the fate of huts discovered on Forestry Commission land.

John Coughtrie and Archie McNeillie prepare safe standing places for the crowds at the Galloway Hills Rally.