An area of woodland of 339 hectares on the western side of the River Nant is designated as national nature reserve (NNR), which is owned and managed by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).

[4] It is an example of an Atlantic Oakwood, and is one of largest areas of upland oak woodland in north Argyll.

During the 1970s the Forestry Commission (predecessor body of FLS) planted areas with commercial conifer species such as Sitka spruce.

By the later 1970s the focus on increasing the amount of commercial forestry led to oak woodland on the eastern side of the lower glen being felled in preparation for conifer plantations: following negotiations between the Nature Conservancy Council (predecessor body of NatureScot) and the Forestry Commission the area was declared a national nature reserve (NNR) in 1979.

[8] The charity Plantlife have produced a short leaflet that highlights some of the flora that can be seen on a 1.6 km section of the Ant Trail.