Lakeside community buys forest featured in Harry Potter movie

It has been described as the one of the last natural pine forests in Scotland, used in a dramatic scene in a Harry Potter blockbuster movie.

After a race against time, the people who live around the pine forest at Loch Arkaig near Spean Bridge learned Wednesday they have helped raise enough money to buy the woodland.

Arkaig Community Forest, in partnership with the Woodland Trust, raised thousands of dollars to buy the site spanning more than 1,000 hectares.

The Woodland Trust launched a bid earlier this year to raise funds to buy and restore the magnificent but degraded ancient Caledonian pinewood on the shores of Loch Arkaig in the Highlands of Scotland.

"The opportunity to buy this iconic landscape was time-limited with less than nine months to raise the necessary funds. But, in partnership with local group Arkaig Community Forest, we secured fantastic support from individuals and organizations across the UK and succeeded in raising the 500,000 pounds (617,100 U.S. dollars) needed to buy the land," said the Woodland Trust.

During World War II, the pine forest was used to train army commandoes to prepare them for action against the enemy. One of the exercises caused a major fire, damaging many of the trees. Today they are referred to as "ghost trees" still standing as a lasting memory of its role in the war.

The forest and the loch (lake) formed a dramatic backdrop in a scene for the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with the three young wizards, Harry, Hermione and Ron flying over it on a dragon before leaping into the lake.

The pinewoods was put up for sale by the Forestry Commission, with the Woodland Trust given the chance to buy if it could raise the funds. Enditem