Nature

Environmental groups respond to SNH deer management report

Posted on November 29, 2019 by Paul Webster

A coalition of environmental organisations have welcomed improvements in the functioning of deer management groups while warning that a step change is needed if climate and biodiversity targets are to be met. A report published today by Scottish Natural Heritage suggests that there has been “significant progress” in deer management planning and evidence of improvements on the ground in reducing deer densities in some areas. The report, however also noted that three out of five key Scottish biodiversity targets are “unlikely to be delivered” because of high deer densities and that there has been “insufficient progress”in protecting and restoring native…

Posted in Nature

Coalition of local and conservation groups call for new Cairn Gorm vision

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Paul Webster

A group of conservation organisations and local groups has come together to publish a new joint vision for the future of Cairn Gorm. The group – comprising Ramblers Scotland, the Cairngorms Campaign, the North East Mountain Trust, the Scottish Wild Land Group and the Campaign for a Better Cairngorm – are calling a modernisation of ski infrastructure, for the dismantling of the funicular railway to be seriously considered, and for future developments that enhance and respect the natural environment that draws visitors to the National Park. The vision (attached) puts forward ideas which support the future of skiing in the…

Posted in Magazine, Nature

Wildcats to be re-introduced in Scotland

Posted on November 19, 2019 by Helen Webster

Scottish wildcats bred in captivity are to re-introduced into the wild after funding was secured for the project Situated at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore, a new re-introduction centre will provide facilities for breeding, veterinary care, remote monitoring and training. It is hoped that the first wildcats will be released into the wild in the Cairngorms in 2022. A report earlier this year found that hybridisation of the native wildcat with domestic cats means the extinction of the species is highly likely without wildcat releases. Over the next six years, RZSS will lead the…

Posted in Magazine, Nature

Red squirrels move to Sutherland in new project

Posted on October 19, 2019 by Helen Webster

Conservation charities Trees for Life and Woodland Trust Scotland have partnered up to return red squirrels to a Sutherland wood…

Posted in Magazine, Nature, News

Land of Ghosts

Posted on October 14, 2019 by John Burns

John D. Burns is an award-winning writer who has spent over forty years exploring Britain’s mountains. A past member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, he has walked and climbed in the American and Canadian Rockies, Kenya, the Alps and the Pyrenees. He has taken one-man plays to the Edinburgh Fringe and toured widely. His first two books, The Last Hillwalker and Bothy Tales, were both shortlisted for TGO Magazine’s Outdoor Book of the Year. His first novel – Sky Dance – was published last month; here he explains why he wrote it. What do you see when you look at our hills? Do you see…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

What does a ranger actually do?

Posted on October 8, 2019 by Ben Dolphin

I’m currently in my seventh ranger season. I say ‘season’ because I’m a seasonal ranger. We get employed during the busier, warmer months when more folk are flocking to the great outdoors, whether that’s urban green spaces, Country Parks, or the wider countryside. And across those seven seasons the question I’ve probably been asked most is….what does a ranger actually do? Well, let’s set the context first. Countryside rangers have been around for 50 years in Scotland, the first having assumed their post in 1969. The impetus for this landmark event was the expansion of leisure time in the 1960s…

Posted in Access issues, Features, Magazine, Nature

Landowner told to remove track scarring Cairngorms hill

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Paul Webster

A landowner in the Cairngorms National Park has been ordered to remove a controversial vehicle track that is visible from miles around in scenic Glen Clova, Angus. Campaigners have welcomed Cairngorms National Park Authority’s enforcement notice against the ugly vehicle track, which appears to be used to support field sports. The landowner – registered to Pitlivie Farm in Carnoustie – has been given until October 2020 to restore the upper part of the track, which is 1.5km long and has created spoil mounds up to 10 metres wide. They have also been told to seek retrospective permission by 23 December…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine, Nature

Farming and crofting in the Cairngorms National Park

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Anne Rae MacDonald

Anne Rae MacDonald is a board member of the Cairngorms National Park, and a partner in a family farming business in Easter Ross. She is also a member of Scotland’s Women in Agriculture Taskforce set up in 2017 by the Scottish Government. To keen walkers and mountaineers, there is little need I am sure for me to advocate what a special place the Cairngorms and associated hills and glens are. For those who have a love of the outdoors whether through recreational interest or because they work the land, an appreciation of nature and the countryside usually goes hand in hand.…

Posted in Nature

Walkers urged to check for deer stalking before Heading for the Scottish Hills

Posted on August 10, 2019 by Helen Webster

Hillwalkers are being encouraged to check online for deer stalking information before setting out during the busiest part of the season. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) manages the Heading for the Scottish Hills website which provides details on deer stalking on estates between July and late October to help walkers avoid disturbing stalking. The website makes it easier for walkers to follow the advice in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code to try and find out where stag stalking is taking place and provides details on who to contact for more information. It also includes routes that are ‘always okay’ and days…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine, Nature, News

Fires – a burning issue

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Adam Streeter-Smith

With photos of campfire rings and damage left in the pinewoods circulating on social media, Adam Streeter-Smith, Access Officer for the Cairngorms National Park authority, takes on a hot topic, asking just what is responsible behaviour. Picture the scene – a starry night sky, crickets are chirping and the horses hobbled nearby are munching on the grass, the coffee pot perched on the edge of the fire starts to boil and the aroma mixes with the wild sage. You casually kick a log with your cowboy boot and sparks waft into the night sky…. Now transpose the romanticised notion of…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine, Nature