It also forms the western part of the community of Finzean, but has a separate, complex history of landownership relating to its status as a commonty, which has involved a large number of disputes since the 16th century.

However, native pine woodland has regenerated across approximately 5 square kilometres of the northern slopes of the Forest of Birse since the Second World War, principally on the Finlets, Lamahip and Bogturk hills.

There are also fragments of riparian woodland along many of the watercourses of the forest, containing a diverse range of native trees including birch, hazel, aspen and holly.

However, the first evidence of settlement comes from the Bronze Age, about 3000 years ago, in the form of field systems, clearance cairns and hut circles, of which there are several good examples in the Forest of Birse.

Over the following 400 years the Bishops allowed the inhabitants of the wider parish of Birse the common right to use the forest for the collection of timber and peat and for summer grazing.

The ruling allowed the two enclosed areas to remain as the private property of the Earl of Aboyne and the Farquharsons of Finzean respectively, but reconfirmed the common rights of everyone in Birse over the remainder of the forest.

During the 19th century, the rise in the popularity and economic value of grouse shooting associated with the Victorian era led to a series of legal disputes over the hunting rights in the forest that were not fully resolved until 1897.

The division of hunting rights (which remains to this day) follows a line from the summit of Gannoch, down the Allanstank burn, along the Feugh to the Forest of Birse kirk and then along a track which runs north to Glencat.

In 1978, ownership of Dunecht estates (including the Forest of Birse) was passed by the 3rd Viscount Cowdray to his younger son, Charles Pearson, who is the current owner.