Annual Review 2023-24

We stand at the forefront of rewilding in the Scottish Highlands. Hopeful and bold, we are committed to creating nature-rich landscapes that include and support people. Our vision is of a revitalised wild forest, providing space for wildlife to flourish and communities to thrive.

Thank you to everyone who supported rewilding in the Scottish Highlands this year. This is our annual review covering the period from 1 February 2023 to 31 January 2024.

Below you’ll find our highlights and biggest achievements of the year, as well as our plans for the future. We have also included an annual financial breakdown, so you can see how we raise income and where it is spent.

This year, we celebrated 30 years as a charity and marked a major milestone with the opening of the world’s first Rewilding Centre. We also made significant progress with our forest restoration work – publishing key findings from the Caledonian Pinewood Recovery Project and launching both the Wild Pine Project and the Tree Seed Collection Project. In October, we were thrilled to welcome television presenters Chris Packham, Megan McCubbin, and a team of young conservationists to Dundreggan as part of the new 8 Out of 10 Bats nature series.

Find out more by reading on.

Highlights and Achievements

Celebrating 30 years

We have officially been restoring the Caledonian forest for 30 years. Since 1993, more than 5,000 people have volunteered with us, helping to grow more than two million trees and enabling the natural regeneration of many more. Supporters, local communities and stakeholders across the landscapes where we work have been a golden thread throughout these three decades. Rewilding takes time – and restoring Scotland’s wild forest will continue to support people, wildlife, and climate long into the future.

Dundreggan Rewilding Centre opened

Our Dundreggan Rewilding Centre – the first visitor attraction of its kind in the world – opened in April 2023. Located just eight miles from Loch Ness, on the main road to the Isle of Skye, the centre is a gateway to the wild forest, with fully accessible trails and forest activities for all ages. Rooted in Gaelic culture and heritage, the centre welcomed over 20,000 visitors in its first year, offering immersive experiences of nature and rewilding in action. It was awarded the British Guild of Travel Writers International Tourism Award for the Best Tourism Project in the UK and Ireland.

8 Out of 10 Bats

We were thrilled to welcome television presenters Chris Packham, Megan McCubbin, and a team of young conservationists to Dundreggan as part of the new 8 Out of 10 Bats nature series. Filming took place over a week and featured live segments, topical wildlife films, engaging props, and real-time nature footage from across the UK. A public event on Saturday 21 October gave visitors the chance to meet Chris, Megan, and the team – who shared inspiring messages about how we can all help save nature before it’s too late.

Caledonian Pinewood Recovery Project findings

Our landmark Caledonian Pinewood Recovery Project revealed that Scotland’s surviving Caledonian pinewoods are under threat and in poor condition. This was the first major study into their health in over 60 years. The findings show that most of these globally unique pinewoods are on a knife-edge and could be the last of a lineage stretching back to the last ice age. The four-year study identified high deer numbers, non-native conifers, lack of long-term management, and the emerging impacts of climate breakdown as major threats to their survival. Read the report here.

Wild Pine Project

Caledonian pinewoods are globally unique and support rare wildlife including red squirrels, capercaillie and crossbills. Yet less than 2% of the Caledonian forest, which once covered much of the Highlands, survives. Just 84 individual Caledonian pinewoods are officially recognised, and they were last documented over 25 years ago. This year, we launched the Wild Pine project in partnership with Woodland Trust Scotland. We surveyed 11 ‘lost’ native pinewood sites to assess their condition and prioritise them for restoration.

Protecting ancient pines in Glen Loyne

Ancient Scots pines in Glen Loyne – within the Affric Highlands rewilding landscape – have been saved and given a chance of regeneration. Thanks to cooperation of the landowner, we erected 1.5 kilometres of new fencing, while also repairing, extending, and connecting existing sections. Due to the glen’s remoteness, heavy-duty materials had to be flown in by helicopter. The pinewood will now be able to naturally regenerate for the first time in decades. Read more here.

Tree Seed Collection Project

We launched the Tree Seed Collection Project – a collaborative three-year project between Woodland Trust Scotland and Trees for Life to enhance the availability of native trees from western Scotland. Volunteers and montane specialists are collecting seed from key areas, including remnants of Scotland’s temperate rainforest. Planting trees from locally collected seed is critical in supporting the expansion of Scotland’s Caledonian forest in areas where natural regeneration is not possible. Read more about the project here.

Common Ground Forum

We’re proud to be a member of Common Ground Forum which launched in October 2023. The network is working to move beyond the conflict that has characterised deer management in Scotland for too long. The Forum members are committed to a more collaborative approach to deer management, based on mutual respect and consensus building. Find out more here.

Looking to the future – Our plans for 2024-25

Cairngorms Aspen Network

We will launch our Cairngorms Aspen Network Project in partnership with Cairngorms National Park Authority and Cairngorms Aspen Group to develop an exciting aspen network in the Cairngorms. Aspen is a scarce yet ecologically important tree. We will initially work on the development phase which involves mapping the location, condition and health of the current aspen trees in order to identify key sites and management priorities (e.g. fencing, growing and planting plans) for the delivery phase. The mapping will be essential for enabling an effective and strategic approach to aspen conservation. Read more about the project here.

Scotland’s Pinewood Conference

Around 6000 years ago, Scotland was covered in an estimated 1.5 million hectares of native Caledonian pinewood. Today, only small and isolated fragments of this life-supporting habitat remains, scattered across the Highlands. We’ll be taking part in Scotland’s Pinewood Conference 2024 – the first conference of its kind for 20 years – which will be held in Fort William on 28 and 29 October. The conference will bring together 160 experts, landowners, managers, and enthusiasts who are interested in Caledonian pinewoods to examine how landscape scale management can lead to ecosystem recovery, focusing on western pinewoods.

Black grouse surveys

A new community-focused programme of black grouse surveys will be launched by the Affric Highlands initiative and RSPB Scotland, working together with Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and local landowners. The project builds on previous surveys by RSPB Scotland in the area since 2007, and includes a team of volunteers for the first time. Black grouse are an important indicator species for ecosystem health, and use a wide variety of habitats for feeding, shelter, nesting, lekking and rearing chicks. But the spectacular birds have suffered long-term UK-wide decline, due to threats such as habitat loss and intensive land management. Find out more about Affric Highlands here.

Red Squirrel Reintroduction Project

The Scottish Highlands are the largest remaining stronghold for red squirrels in the UK, home to around 75% of the population. However, this population has traditionally been confined to the central and eastern Highlands, and red squirrels remain absent from much of their former range in the northwest. Since 2016, we have been working to reintroduce red squirrels to areas of their former range, with two new release sites planned for 2024: the remote Drimnin Estate overlooking the Sound of Mull, and Ratagan on the Glenelg peninsula. Find out more about the project here.