A SCHEME to ­transform a South Side woodland into a ­community resource has received a £75,000 funding boost.

Thanks to a cash injection from the Heritage ­Lottery Fund, plans can now advance at Malls Mire near Toryglen.

Environmental charity Urban Roots hopes to transform the area and encourage more locals to use it.

Tom Cooper, a community ranger, has been leading the project.

He said: "We've had plans for Malls Mire for quite some time now but they have been on hold while we looked for the resources to fund them.

"Now we have this Heritage Lottery grant we can start to push ahead and, hopefully, the woodland will be a lot more inviting in just three weeks - though the maintenance will go on for a lot longer."

Malls Mire sits between Toryglen and the border of Rutherglen.

Due to its regional importance to wildlife, the area was named a Site Important for Nature Conservation by Glasgow City Council.

It had lain neglected for nearly 30 years before ­Urban Roots took over the 21-acre site.

The charity has been running projects in the woodland from groups for dads and their children, to after-school forest clubs and active, out-of-school sessions during the holidays with marshmallow roasting, tree climbing and denbuilding.

Last year, the Evening Times told how Urban Roots was also working with ­pupils from nearby St Brigid's Primary to create ­podcasts in Malls Mire.

The hi-tech plan saw ­primary six youngsters ­record sounds in the woods.

They wrote about native trees, flowers, insects, deer and foxes and birds, which were turned into podcasts by a sound engineer from the Royal Conserovervatoire of Scotland.

These were then available to download to smart phones by using a QR code, a type of barcode.

Now conservation plans will see the woodland thinned out and, eventually, new paths and upgraded walkways will be laid down for walkers.

Tom hopes the forest will be transformed into an area for people from across the city to use.

Malls Mire, an area of 21 acres, was planted with trees in 1993 and turned into an inner-city woodland, but was then left to become overg rown.

In 2007, the Toryglen ­Gardening Club discovered the woodland and decided to begin a clean-up operation, before Urban Roots became involved.

School groups now use the area as an outdoor classroom and locals come to take walks, while children play in the area.

Tom added: "People might not think that a forest needs to be conserved and some can be left to their own devices but a place like Malls Mire needs to be tended, much like a garden.

"The trees were planted very close together and should have been thinned out around 10 years ago but that never happened.

"We've got a lot of work to do and there are volunteers who are helping us.

"Hopefully the work will make Malls Mire more ­accessible and we will see people coming from across the city to use it, just as they use Glasgow's parks."

catriona.stewart@ eveningtimes.co.uk