There’s an exciting initiative bringing life back to the wilds of Scotland.
Just a stone’s throw away from the famous Loch Ness, you’ll find Dundreggan Rewilding Centre. This initiative from rewilding charity Trees for Life has a mission: to restore the Scottish wilderness from centuries of degradation. Since 2008, rewilding experts have worked tirelessly to revitalize Scotland’s Caledonian Forest, creating a sanctuary for over 4,000 species, including majestic golden eagles and the elusive black grouse. Here’s how this remarkable sustainability project is making Scotland wild again, using interviews with Stephen and Kat from the Rewilding Centre itself.
Visit Dundreggan on the Best of Scotland tour and immerse yourself in ancient pinewoods, explore unique juniper forests, and connect with the rich Gaelic history of the land.
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Deforestation and threats to the landscape
‘The landscape here is really really old. The Caledonian Forest, as it was called, would have covered much of Scotland 6,000 years ago. In fact, the Romans called it ‘Silver Caledonia’ on one of their very old maps, and they recognized it as quite a dense forest, covering all the hills.’
‘A lot of this forest has been lost from this landscape over a really really long period of time, partly due to changes in the environment, changes in climate, changes in species, but a lot of it has been down to removal of trees by humans for lots of different reasons.’
Trees for Life’s Caledonian Pinewood Recovery Project works in tandem with Woodland Trust Scotland to save the last few pinewoods. They assess the health of these trees and collaborate with local landowners to help preserve these unique pinewoods for future generations to come.
‘The threat to the landscape and the forest has actually been going on for a very long time due to humans cutting down the forest for industry. But much of the land was also cleared for sheep grazing, and also animals eating all the trees. The problem we have at the moment is that there are too many deer, and they eat everything. They’re actually woodland creatures, but there isn’t enough woodland for them to live in. So they live out on the open hills where they have adapted.’
‘So that is one of the main threats that we’re facing really, is the really, really high numbers of grazing animals that we have a responsibility to balance in order to bring some of that forest and the diversity of habitat it brings back.’
‘I would say another of the main threats to this landscape is something that we call shifting baseline syndrome, which is basically the way that we as humans view and interact with the landscape. We tend to see what is normal as what we’re used to, which means we don’t really have the long view of how the landscape has changed and what has come before. And that means that we don’t necessarily think about what we might want the landscape to look like in the future.’
‘One of the things we’ve gotten really used to is a really deforested landscape with really, really high numbers of grazing animals like deer. And one of the things about really high deer numbers is that they prevent tree regeneration because they eat young trees and they can even kill mature trees as well.’
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The Journey of Trees for Life
The Dundreggan Rewiliding Centre is set up by Trees for Life, one of our TreadRight partners, who’ve worked tirelessly since 1993 to restore Scotland’s Caledonian Forest. Their dedication and expertise has made them a pioneering force in wild forest restoration, evidenced by the thriving Dundreggan tree nursery.
‘Since Trees For Life bought the estate in 2008, we’ve been using a combination of natural regeneration – not fencing off areas, cutting the deer numbers down, and allowing the forest to spread quite naturally – as well as putting up fences and planting trees in other areas. For all of those trees the seed sources are local, and much of that we collect ourselves. We have a tree nursery here that produces about 100,000 trees a year, many of those we have planted on the estate. We planted 280,000 trees in area in 2017 and 2018 – they’re now higher than me. It’s a remarkable feat of regeneration. But we’ve had to do that ourselves because there was there are no native tree-seed sources there.’
And with flora comes fauna. Beavers are coming back to populate Scotland’s many rivers and lochs. Lynx and wildcats now prowl the Highlands.
‘By restoring the forest and native trees, we’re hoping that lots of species will find their way back here because the habitat will be suitable for them again. There are some species that have made their own way back including feral pigs, which we sometimes call wild boar, that have just spread through this area naturally, bringing a really important process of disturbance and regeneration with them.’
‘Also, Trees For Life as a wider organisation has been working on the introduction of red squirrels across the Northwest Highlands. We introduced 11 new populations of squirrels really successfully over the last eight to 10 years!’
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Visiting Dundreggan
‘During a visit, guests will hear from our staff all about the work of Trees For Life, everything that’s happening at Dundreggan, and some of the fantastic wildlife that we have here. Then they will have a chance to explore on a series of footpaths outside. We have a lovely café that people can enjoy as well.’
‘You’ll directly benefit Dundreggan and Trees For Life, because every penny that is spent in the centre goes to supporting the work of Trees For Life – like the rewilding projects, the reintroductions of squirrels, tree planting, working with volunteers, and education. By visiting Dundreggan, you’re helping support the work of the wider charity.’
‘One of the aspects of rewilding that quite often gets missed out of the narrative is the importance of people in the landscape. So when our tour guests come here, they get to hear how important it is for people to be working and living here in a rewilding landscape. All of the money that comes in through the tours goes directly to our work. The support the tours bring means we are now employing over 20 people, most of them local. All the work that happens here benefits the local area, so it’s incredibly important that people get that message. It’s not just about wild animals, and trees and tree planting. All of that is very important. But what we’re trying to demonstrate here is that it is possible for people to have thriving businesses and full lives in a rewilding landscape.
On the Best of Scotland, you’ll start your tour in Edinburgh. After two days of exploring one of the world’s most iconic cities, you’ll venture out into the vast Scottish Highlands. On Day 4 of your trip you’ll have the chance to visit the Dundreggan estate, where you’ll learn all about their rewilding project. Through this unique MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience, you’ll connect with the rich Gaelic heritage of the Scottish Highlands. You’ll immerse yourself in its ancient flora and fauna, speak with hardworking locals, and learn about the history of the land. In doing so, you’ll play your own part in this chapter of the Gaelic story. This comes with its benefits: your visit helps safeguard one of Europe’s most beautiful and ancient landscapes, helping advance the United Nation’s Global Goal 15: Life on Land.
Visit Dundreggan Rewilding centre on Best of Scotland
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Our 2023 Impact Report
When you travel with us, you want to know you’re choosing a travel provider that’s doing their part to secure a sustainable future.
We’re continuing to make significant progress on the commitments we made in our 5-year sustainability strategy, changing the way we do business – for the better. We’ve made strides on many of our goals, one of which was including a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience on 50% of our itineraries by 2025. These are travel experiences that make the world a better place, like on the Iceland tour where you see how green, sustainable energy is produced at Iceland’s newest geothermal heat and electric power station in Hellisheidi, supporting UN SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. Or in Kenya, where you stop by Ol Pejeta, a not-for-profit conservancy known for its anti-poaching efforts, learning about its valuable endangered species conservation work and advancing UN SDG 15: Life on Land. We now offer 160 MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences across 96% of our itineraries, so you can help make the world a better place when you travel.
Another goal was to eliminate as many unnecessary single-use plastics as possible from our operations and itineraries. We’ve done just that, removing single-use plastics from all our operations + working with suppliers to utilize water tanks to refill reusable water bottles.
Read the whole Impact Report here