Scots location named best in the world as experts bring wild animals back

REWILDING can lead to Scotland’s next tourism boom after The Highlands were named top of National Geographic Traveller’s Best of the World list.

The global travel bible placed us as the number one destination for 2023 because of huge efforts to “replant and restore native species”.

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But it’s believed that the world’s first centre for rewilding – large-scale nature recovery – at Dundreggan, by the non-profit organisation Trees for Life near Loch Ness, will lead the way.

Steve Micklewright, chief executive of Trees for Life, says: “Rewilding is so badly needed in Scotland and is a powerful solution for tackling the overlapping nature and climate emergencies, while creating a cascade of benefits for people.

“National Geographic magazine named the Highlands in its Best of the World, offering a significant global tourism opportunity.

“For 15 years, Dundreggan has been a beacon for rewilding our landscapes. Now it will be a beacon for rewilding people too.”

The £7million centre is based in the Affric Highlands, the UK’s largest rewilding landscape which will potentially cover over 500,000 acres.

Golden eagles have successfully bred in the area’s great Caledonian forest for the first time in 40 years while populations of other species such as black grouse are beginning to recover.

Steve says: “This 30-year initiative will strengthen land-based livelihoods and create a green economy, including through sustainable forestry, fishing, farming and tourism.”

He believes not only will it draw in visitors but it will also prevent locals from leaving to work elsewhere.

Steve says: “We want to show how rewilding can support nature-based economies and benefit communities. There was one job at Dundreggan when we first bought the former deer stalking estate in 2008.

“Today, that has risen to 28 jobs. And at the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in Dumfries and Galloway jobs have risen from one to six.

“But none of this is happening in isolation. The Northwoods Rewilding Network – launched by the charity Scotland: The Big Picture in 2021 – now consists of more than 50 partners, including small farms, smallholdings, and community sites.

“The network supports over 70 jobs, and over £1million has already been spent with local suppliers and services.”

Dundreggan’s 40-bedroom accommodation building will also help the growth of voluntourism, where tourists combine volunteering with a trip.

But rewilding campaigners still have a long battle ahead to see the reintroduction of predators, including the lynx.

The topic was hotly debated in Holyrood last month, with many organisations like Trees for Life backing the controversial moves.

However, farmers are firmly against it with their NFUS union president Martin Kennedy claiming proposals are “causing considerable angst and anxiety to those who keep livestock in Scotland”.

But Steve insists bringing back the big cats is essential to the Scottish government’s ambitious rewilding hopes of restoring 30 per cent of nature by 2030.

He says: “Scotland could become the world’s first rewilding nation, but is still one of Europe’s only countries lacking large predators.

“Predators play a vital ecological role in maintaining healthy living systems.

“Lynx are known as a keystone species because they can have a profound influence on the behaviour, abundance and distribution of so many other species, with biodiversity negatively affected by their absence.

“The support of the land management community for a carefully managed lynx reintroduction would help deliver on commitments to restore 30 per cent of nature by 2030.”

ANIMAL MAGIC

THE species which could return to Scotland:

LYNX

IN a meeting at Holyrood in April politicians discussed the reintroduction of Lynx with rewilding groups such as The Big Picture and Trees for Life along with scientists and landowners.

The species was hunted to extinction 500 years ago in Scotland but has been successfully reintroduced in Germany, France and Switzerland in recent years.

Bringing back Lynx is said to benefit eco-tourism and help control roe deer that damage woodland. But farmers are opposed with NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy saying: “Reintroducing predators such as lynx, wolves or bears are wholly unacceptable.”

WILDCATS

A LICENCE has been approved for the release of captive-bred Scottish wildcats in Cairngorms National Park this summer.

The Saving Wildcats project said it would be the first conservation translocation of wildcats in Britain. Eventually, as many as 20 wildcats could be released annually.

There are already wildcats in the wild in the Cairngorms, but the population is under threat

BEAVERS

RSPB Scotland translocated a family group of seven beavers from Tayside to the Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve at the start of the year.

Loch Lomond is only the third location in Scotland where a beaver translocation has taken place since the reintroduction trial at Knapdale in 2009.

However, disaster struck when two of the otter kits released were attacked and eaten by an otter.

WOLVES

SCOTLAND has been free of wolves since the last one was shot in the Highlands in 1743 but in 2015 multi-millionaire landowner Paul Lister hit the headlines with his plans to reintroduce the pack predator.

The heir to the MFI furniture fortune wants to set the animals free on his 23,000-acre Alladale Wilderness Reserve in Sutherland.

He said: “Let’s be clear — I am in favour of a controlled release of wolves into a safe environment. I do not favour a general release of wolves into the countryside.”

But for the time being Trees for Life will be focusing on providing “fantastic experiences” for the growing number interested in restoring nature to its former glory.

Steve says: “We want to breathe life into the huge potential of the Highlands to help nature return in a major way – providing people from all walks of life with fantastic experiences while tackling the climate and nature emergencies.”

– For more details, go online to visitdundreggan.co.uk.

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