Like anyone with more than a passing interest in the environment I keep a keen eye on the latest headlines from the natural world. There’s plenty of good news to celebrate…

The chief executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority Grant Moir ponders changing approaches to conservation and wonders whether we are at a pivotal moment in the history of the movement.

This is a revised and updated version of an article that first appeared in the John Muir Trust Journal in 2005 to mark Adam Watson becoming only the second person after Tom Weir to receive the John Muir Trust Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr Adam Watson was the quintessential guru of the Cairngorms; his knowledge of the hills and his authority across the spectrum of their ecological values unparalleled. He even looked the part, with his full white beard giving him an undeniable touch of Gandalf quality. Adam was one of the founding trustees of the John Muir Trust, serving from…