Almost three quarters of people feel they have no say over changes to their local landscape according to research by the National Trust for Scotland. The findings were revealed in a report published today. The Land We Love contains findings gathered through surveys of 700 National Trust for Scotland members, around 1000 members of the Scottish public and the attendees of a major landscape conference which took place in November 2012. Seventy two per cent of people surveyed said they had “no influence” in response to the question ‘do you feel you are able to influence how your local landscapes…

The Cairngorms National Park Authority is to look into the potential for reintroducing beavers to the area next year. A trial reintroduction project at Knapdale in Argyll is due to end in 2014 and beavers are also living wild in the River Tay catchment area. The National Park has published a Cairngorms Nature Action Plan which includes a range of measures to ensure the area continues to be home to creatures such as red squirrels, Scottish wildcats, capercaillie, freshwater pearl mussels as well as looking into the possibility of reintroducing beavers and the Eurasian crane, which were once native to…

Environmental organisations attempting to stop the unregulated construction of hill tracks in Scotland have been shocked by the scale of the problem, mid-way through a public campaign to identify the worst cases. Working together under Scottish Environment LINK, the nine organisations are asking members of the public to submit photographs of tracks in the Scottish countryside before 1 September, and have already received numerous responses. They say that time is now running out to uncover the true scale of the damage caused to Scotland’s landscapes and wildlife before they try to persuade the Government to change the law. The organisations…

Friends of Nevis have the following events planned for this summer. A Path Maintenance weekend on Friday 26 and Saturday 27th July. We hope (weather permitting) to work both higher up on Ben Nevis up by the zig-zags and then on the Mamore Grazing path along by the Lower Falls in the Glen.   For the higher work you’ll need a good level of hill walking fitness but the for the work lower down you just need to be reasonably fit as the path is relatively level.  With notice we can assist those travelling with accommodation.  Please note that booking for…

A study by the Centre for Mountain Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) has found that Scotland's five main landowning conservation charities, contribute significantly, to the Scottish economy, even though they own just 2.6 per cent of land. The report, which was submitted to the Scottish Land Reform Review Group, focuses on the socio-economic benefits that flow from the ownership and management of land by the John Muir Trust, the National Trust for Scotland, RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Woodland Trust Scotland. Among the key findings, the report found that as well as protecting…