An ambitious 30-year landscape-scale rewilding initiative to link up a majestic sweep of the Scottish Highlands as one vast nature recovery area connecting Loch Ness to Scotland’s west coast has been launched by charity Trees for Life, and joins a select group of prestigious European rewilding areas.  The Affric Highlands initiative follows three years of consultation between Rewilding Europe, Trees for Life, and other local partners and stakeholders. It will restore nature across a network of landholdings potentially covering an area of over 500,000 acres stretching from Loch Ness across the central Highlands to Kintail in the west, and encompassing…

The Cairngorms National Park has secured the largest award amongst five projects across the UK to receive a share of £50million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Horizon Awards. The Cairngorms 2030: people and nature thriving together project has been developed by the National Park Authority with 45 partners. The plan includes more than 20 schemes across the National Park, which is the largest of the UK and home to 25% of all its threatened species. The schemes planned include restoring 3,500 hectares of peatland, planting thousands of trees to help add 1,000 hectares of woodland cover, developing a…

A chain of nature-rich hotspots bringing together a diverse group of estates, farms, crofts and community-owned land is to be created across Scotland with a new rewilding network launched by charity SCOTLAND: The Big Picture. The Northwoods Rewilding Network will allow more of Scotland’s many smaller landholdings of 50 to 1,000 acres to play a bigger role in restoring and connecting rich habitats full of life to boost declining species, tackle climate breakdown, and create new opportunities for rural communities.  Northwoods will complement Scotland’s major landscape-scale rewilding sites by filling in the gaps in local areas and joining together a tapestry of smaller nature recovery…