Outside of the policies of Armadale Castle, CDLT’s estate has several young, commercial conifer plantations that aim to produce good-quality softwood and timber in the years to come. These plantations sequester carbon from the atmosphere, and represent an important part of the estate’s natural capital stocks. 

Across our estate we also have woodlands including native species such as oak, birch, rowan, hazel, Scots pine, beech and ash. These woods provide an important, biodiverse habitat, which we intend to protect and expand in suitable locations.

Natural Capital is broadly understood to refer to the Earth’s stock of renewable and non-renewable natural assets that, in turn, provide the flow of ecosystem services upon which human life depends. These natural assets include geology, water, soil and forests, amongst others. Examples of the ecosystem services derived from these assets include food, biodiversity, climate regulation and recreation. 

CDLT is committed to responsible management of natural capital. Because natural capital underpins everything we do, it is woven into all of our management decisions.  

We are currently cautious about any commercial exploitation of carbon credits, for example from sales under the woodland and peatland carbon codes, because their markets are immature and there may be unintended, onerous consequences for future generations of land managers and crofters.

CDLT’s estate is centred around the ruin of Armadale Castle and its beautiful surrounding gardens. A five-star visitor attraction, our commercial enterprises include: 

• Self-catering properties: Armadale Castle Cabins, Forester’s Cottage, The Flora Apartment and The Lady Margaret Apartment.
• Armadale Castle Ruin and Gardens, a significant arboretum of rare trees, shrubs and flowers originally laid out in the 19th century by the then Lord Macdonald.
• The Museum of the Isles, telling the Highlands and Islands story through the eyes of the famous Clan Donald.
• The Gatehouse Shop, offering primarily Scottish gifts and souvenirs.
• The Stables Café, providing visitors with barista coffee, baking and light meals. Local produce is used where possible.
• The Clan Archive and Library, with books and other documents covering all aspects of Scottish culture and history. Our library has one of the best reference collections in Scotland. Due to the nature of research queries, the Archive and Library are by appointment only.

Charities are permitted to undertake commercial activities where they support and provide capital for fulfilling the charity’s purposes. Over the last decades CDLT has relied heavily on our major grant funders to cover annual operating losses, the visitor business never having been economically viable. 

Sadly, our grant funding is now much reduced, and the charity is exploring every possible option available to it to enable our work for the Clan to continue. Thank you for your support while we navigate these difficult waters.  

“Take only photos, leave only footprints.” We welcome responsible visitors to CDLT’s estate. We have a range of walking trails from very easy routes within the gardens, to challenging hill routes across our more remote areas. 

The wooded policies immediately outside the gardens contain short nature trails that are open to walkers and careful mountain bikers. Longer trails include Coille Dalavil and Point of Sleat, both offering more strenuous terrain and incredible sea views.  

Our estate is dog-friendly, but please clean up after your dog and keep it on a lead when near livestock, and during the bird nesting season (April – July). It is a criminal offence to worry livestock or disturb wildlife.  

Please park responsibly if accessing your starting point by vehicle. Work occurs on the estate day and night all year round; please do not block access tracks or junctions. 

Our estate is a working environment, and we expect visitors to follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code: know the Code before you go! Farming, deer management, and property maintenance are all legitimate estate activities that take place across our land, so we ask visitors to please take care and work respectfully with our staff team to ensure a safe environment for everyone. 

In particular, wild campers must use stoves instead of lighting campfires, as our environment is at serious risk of wildfire. Do not cut down trees for firewood, as this hurts our woodland conservation.  

There are toilets at Armadale Pier (CalMac) and at The Stables and our Museum. Campervans must not dump waste on land or in our precious watercourses: please use designated campervan facilities. 

We seek to maintain a healthy, resilient and biodiverse environment. In the age of the climate crisis, this has never been more important. Due to our exceptional mosaic of habitats including coast, woodland and moorland, CDLT’s estate is rich in biodiversity.  

We have a wide variety of bird and animal species, including golden and white-tailed eagles, various wading birds, finches, deer, otters and pine martens. Our estate is also home to an incredible array of plant life, including ferns, lichens, grasses and wildflowers. 
 
Four areas of CDLT’s estate are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, which is a statutory designation regulated by an agency of the Scottish Government, NatureScot. These fragile sites require special management. Some activities, such as the lighting of campfires, is not lawful within the site boundaries. Our SSSIs are listed below; click the links to see the site maps and find out more: 

• Coille Dalavil
• Coille Thògabhaig
• Àird Thuirinis
• Bàgh Tharsgabhaig

The Gàidhealtachd is the Gàidhlig speaking area of Scotland in the Highlands and Islands. Gàidhlig is an indigenous language of the UK, but it is endangered due to socio-economic challenges that have accumulated over several centuries and, sadly, still continue today. Although the Scottish Government is trying to help, CDLT believes that more can be done to protect and enhance Gàidhlig as a living language of everyday use. That said, we acknowledge Skye’s Norse heritage, including so many Norse place names. 

CDLT has committed to develop a Gàidhlig and Norse language plan as one of our sustainable development objectives. Whilst a bit more complicated than a general Gàidhlig plan, we feel this better recognises the breadth of our ancient heritage.